BICOM

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained the only viable option as he made his first visit to the West Bank since taking office.

Guterres spoke after meeting Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah following talks with Israeli leaders on Monday.

He said that it was not only “the total commitment of the United Nations but my personal total commitment to do everything for a two-state solution to materialise,” adding that there “is no plan B to a two-state solution”.

Speaking a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged not to remove a single Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Guterres said that “settlement activity is illegal under international law” and is “an obstacle to the two-state solution”.

He also said on Tuesday that “it is important to create conditions for leaders of all sides to appeal for calm, to avoid forms of incitement, for violence to settle down”.

Israeli leaders say Palestinian “incitement” against the Jewish state is a key reason why peace efforts have not advanced.

Following the meeting with Guterres, Hamdallah called on the UN to ensure that Israel abides by the rules of international law and impose what he said was international justice that has been absent for 70 years, the official Wafa news agency reported. Hamdallah added that the Palestinian leadership was waiting for US officials to formulate a clear approach to the conflict, which is “still scouting and listening” to all sides.

Following his meeting with Hamdallah, Guterres visited the Yasser Arafat Museum and laid a wreath on the former PA president’s tomb.

In an unscheduled meeting yesterday, Guterres also met Latifa Abu Hamid, a mother of four Palestinians sentenced by military courts in Israel to 19 life terms for murdering Israelis to discuss the plight of her sons and their fellow prisoners. A statement from the UN spokesperson said the impromptu meeting took place after “the secretary-general was informed that a group of Palestinian mothers of detained children wanted to give him a petition”.

The UN secretary-general is also scheduled to visit the Gaza Strip during his four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, as part of a broader tour of the region.

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday told a gathering of ambassadors that he will travel to the Middle East next spring, in a trip including Israel and the Palestinian territories, to help the peace process and promote a two-state solution.

Macron called for a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians “in the framework of the search for a solution of two states, Israel and Palestine, living in recognised, secure borders with Jerusalem as the capital”.