Two-state solution is on life support: UN envoy

UNITED NATIONS - The interim UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process warned on Wednesday that the two-state solution is on life support, calling for collective action to revive it.

"The two-state solution is on life support. Reviving it requires collective action," said Sigrid Kaag. "Peace cannot be a transaction or a partial, temporary arrangement. It needs to be built on international consensus and legitimacy, moving it from managing the conflict to ending it."

There can be no sustainable peace in the Middle East without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The region's future will remain bound to its unresolved past, unless bold political will and decisions break the cycle, she told the Security Council.

Palestinian statehood is a right, not a reward, she said.

The upcoming high-level international conference in June, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, presents a critical opportunity. It must not be another rhetorical exercise. It must launch a path toward ending the occupation and realizing the two-state solution based on international law, UN resolutions and previous agreements, said Kaag. "We need to pivot ourselves from declarations to decisions. We need to implement rather than adopt new texts."

Humanitarian aid and assistance urgently need to reach all civilians across Gaza. Essential services, livelihoods, and human dignity need to be restored. Forced displacement of civilians must be rejected and prevented. Post-war Palestinian governance and appropriate security arrangements in Gaza are needed. The territorial and political unity of Gaza and the West Bank must be preserved. Hostages need to be unconditionally released, said the UN envoy.

While war-torn Gaza rightly captures the world's attention, the West Bank is on a dangerous trajectory, she warned.

"Developments are best described as accelerating de facto annexation through settlement expansion, land seizures, and settler violence. If not reversed, this will make the two-state solution physically impossible," she said.

International engagement and alignment are critical, said Kaag. "We need to act now to reverse the current trajectory. A well-defined, widely supported and timebound political process, accompanied by safeguards and guarantees, is essential."