NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday expressed deep concern over Israel’s recent steps aimed at strengthening its control in the occupied West Bank, warning that the move is eroding prospects for a two-state solution.
“The secretary-general is gravely concerned by the reported decision of the Israeli security cabinet to authorize a series of administrative and enforcement steps in Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference.
He said Guterres warned that “the current trajectory on the ground, including this decision, is eroding the prospect for the two-state solution.”
The UN chief reiterated that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, “have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law,” citing relevant United Nations resolutions.
Israel’s continued presence in Palestinian territory is “not only destabilising but unlawful,” Dujarric said.
Guterres called on Israel to reverse the newly approved steps and urged all parties to preserve what he described as “the only path to lasting peace — a negotiated two-state solution — in line with relevant Security Council resolutions and international law.”
Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday approved decisions aimed at altering the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to consolidate Israeli control.
According to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, the decisions include repealing a law barring the sale of Palestinian land to Jews in the West Bank, unsealing land ownership records, and transferring authority over building permits in a settlement bloc near Hebron from the Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.
