United Nations, December 1st The United Nations held a commemorative conference on the 1st of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. United Nations Secretary-General Guterres issued a video message urging the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume meaningful negotiations and seek a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue through a “two-state solution”.
Guterres said: “I am deeply worried about the harsh reality of the occupation of the Palestinian territory and the diminishing prospects for resolving the conflict. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has further worsened the already dire humanitarian and socio-economic situation.” Although Israel has suspended its plans to annex parts of the West Bank, the planning and construction of illegal settlements still exist and continue to expand. In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the number of Palestinian houses and buildings demolished is the highest in four years. These acts violate international law and undermine the prospects for Palestine and Israel’s neighbor.
He pointed out that the violence and conflict in Gaza are escalating, restrictions on the movement and access of people and other human rights violations persist, and the situation is highly volatile.
Guterres said he hoped that Palestinian and Israeli leaders could “rejoin meaningful negotiations” with the support of the international community to seek to resolve the conflict through the “two-state solution” and create opportunities for regional cooperation. He stressed that sustainable peace can only be brought to the region through the “two-state solution”. The United Nations stands ready to support efforts to peacefully resolve this long-standing conflict.
The United Nations has never recognized Israeli settlements in the West Bank of the occupied territories. However, there are currently about 240 Israeli settlements and nearly 650,000 settlers in the occupied territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and Israel is expanding settlements.
In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly called for November 29 of each year as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On this day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the partition of Palestine.
