Annalena Burbock in the General Assembly. President of the UN General Assembly: Peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through a two-state solution Peace and Security
Two decades after the adoption of the two-state resolution, the Palestinian people are still deprived of their rights, most notably the right to self-determination. The chairman of this body, Annalena Berbock, stated this at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on the Palestinian issue.
She emphasized that this issue has been discussed for 78 years, almost as long as the UN itself has existed, but Palestine has never become a full member of the Organization.
According to Burbock, the time has come to take decisive measures to put an end to this situation.
Speaking about recent events, the President of the General Assembly noted that the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 marked the beginning of “one of the darkest chapters” of this protracted conflict. She recalled that two years of war in Gaza have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians.
Berbock drew attention to the humanitarian dimension of the crisis and the dire situation in Gaza: food shortages, destroyed infrastructure, families who cannot return to their homes. She also recalled former Israeli hostages experiencing the psychological consequences of captivity.
“And while the horrors taking place in Gaza have dominated the news for two years, settlement expansion, demolitions and rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continue to undermine the prospects for a sovereign, independent, coherent and viable Palestinian state,” the chair added. General Assembly.
Berbock stressed that the violence is accompanied by the daily humiliations faced by West Bank residents, including children heading to school and pregnant women trying to get to hospitals, being stopped at checkpoints or due to road closures. These restrictions, she says, create a reality that is incompatible with a peaceful future.
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved through illegal occupation, de jure or de facto annexation, forced displacement, permanent terror or permanent war,” said the President of the General Assembly.
She stressed that lasting peace is only possible with two states – Israel and Palestine – with mutually recognized borders and full integration into region. In this context, Burbock referred to the New York Declaration and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which set out a comprehensive road map for resolving the conflict.
She called for the “consolidation” of the ceasefire and said that in order to meet international obligations, it is necessary to ensure uninterrupted humanitarian work, including the work of the Near East Agency for the Relief of Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
“This is not just a gesture of goodwill, but a legal obligation,” Burbock emphasized.
Turning to the draft resolution before the General Assembly, Burbock noted that the document reaffirms the key parameters of a peace settlement: the unity of Gaza and the West Bank, the inadmissibility occupation, siege, forced relocation and reduction of territory.
“The right to live in one’s own state in peace, security and dignity is not a privilege to be earned, but a right to be protected,” she recalled.