Palestinian People's Inalienable Rights - UN Chief Statement

Remarks by H.E. Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, at the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
UN chief António Guterres said Palestinians have endured “more than a half-century of occupation and denial of their legitimate right to self-determination” adding that Israelis and Palestinians continued to “suffer from deadly cycles of violence.”
Speaking at the first meeting in 2019 of Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Guterres said a peaceful and just solution to the question of Palestine could only be achieved through realization of the vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States. He regretted that over the past year the situation had not moved in that direction.
He stressed that leaders have a responsibility to their populations, “not least the youth, to reverse this negative trajectory and pave the way toward peace, stability and reconciliation.”
Guterres highlighted the situation in Gaza and appealed to Hamas authorities “to prevent provocations” noted that Israel has a responsibility under International Humanitarian Law to “exercise maximum restraint and to not use lethal force, except as foreseen in international law, as a last resort against imminent threat of death or serious injury.”
The UN chief cited the risk of further unrest in the West Bank. He said, “The construction and planning of settlements by Israel have expanded deeper into Area C in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem. Settlements are illegal under international law. They deepen the sense of mistrust and undermine the two-State solution. Settler violence remains a very serious concern.”
Guterres reaffirmed that there was no plan B to a two-state solution coexisting in peace and security adding that this was the only way to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Full Statement [as delivered]: