UN Briefing: Consolidating Gaza Ceasefire and Two-State Solution

Pivotal Moment for Middle East Peace

• 💡 The region is at a pivotal moment with an opening for change after years of conflict, but this opportunity requires decisive action.
• 🎯 Collective efforts must consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza and alleviate suffering to build foundations for lasting peace.

Gaza Ceasefire and Recovery Efforts

• 🚀 Phase II of the Gaza ceasefire implementation and advancing a credible political path toward a two-state solution are crucial.
• 🛠️ This includes the demilitarization of Gaza, decommissioning of weapons, and establishing security arrangements for transitional governance.
• 📈 Significant increase in aid entry is essential for inclusive, Palestinian-led recovery and reconstruction, despite ongoing harsh conditions for the displaced population.

Deteriorating Situation in the West Bank

• ⚠️ Israeli forces have intensified operations in the occupied West Bank, involving live fire, mass detentions, and displacement, raising concerns about lethal force and forced transfer.
• 🏘️ Continued settlement expansion, rising settler violence, and accelerated demolitions in East Jerusalem are described as a gradual de facto annexation.
• ⚖️ Unilateral Israeli measures, including withholding clearance revenues and expanding civil authority, deepen the fiscal crisis for the Palestinian Authority and violate international law.

Calls for Action and Political Path

• 🗣️ The US-led Comprehensive Plan must be fully implemented alongside urgent de-escalation in the West Bank.
• 🕊️ There is a need to restore a credible political horizon that ends the occupation and realizes a two-state solution in line with international law.
• 🌍 Britain supports Israel's security but emphasizes that security cannot be achieved through an indefinite occupation that denies sovereignty to Palestinians.
• 🚫 The Palestinian ambassador rejects annexation and stresses that the two-state solution must not become an illusion; the occupation must end to save the Palestinian State and peace.

Israeli Perspective on Historical Rights

• 📜 The Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs asserts that Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel, referencing the Balfour Declaration and historical rights.
• 🌍 He states that the concept of a Palestinian state has never existed and questions the notion of occupied territories in this context.