New York – United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has warned that the prospect of a two state solution between Israel and Palestine is being placed under increasing pressure by developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Guterres made the remarks in New York as the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly got underway, calling for renewed international action to preserve the possibility of an independent Palestinian state. The General Assembly’s high level week is taking place from 18 to 28 September 2026.
The UN chief said violence, displacement and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank were undermining the prospects for a negotiated settlement.
“We cannot allow the two State solution to disappear before our eyes,” Guterres said in his address to the General Assembly.
He also referred to the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling for an end to the fighting and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
The Secretary General said all parties must comply with international law and orders issued by the International Court of Justice.
Guterres said settlement expansion in the Israeli occupied West Bank, together with violence and displacement, was further eroding the prospects for peace. He also warned that these developments were raising concerns about ethnic cleansing.
The United Nations position remains that a two state settlement should provide for Israel and an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine to live alongside each other in peace and security, based on the pre 1967 lines and with Jerusalem serving as the capital of both states.
Guterres has also called for the full implementation of the Gaza peace plan and unrestricted humanitarian access.
Speaking ahead of the General Assembly, he said the peace plan for Gaza must be fully implemented while warning that what he described as the creeping annexation of the West Bank must stop. He said there could be no lasting peace in the Middle East without a two state solution.
The issue comes as international attention remains focused on the future of Gaza and the West Bank, with the United Nations continuing to call for a political process capable of addressing the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
For African countries, the question also carries wider diplomatic significance, given the continent’s longstanding engagement with questions of Palestinian statehood, international law and reform of the global multilateral system.
Guterres has separately called for greater African representation in the United Nations Security Council, describing the continued absence of permanent African representation as unjust and indefensible in his opening address to the 81st General Assembly.
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