United Nations/ NEW YORK: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday, July 28, 2025, delivered one of his most forceful condemnations yet of Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, stating unequivocally that the “creeping annexation” of the West Bank is illegal and the “wholesale destruction” of the Gaza Strip is intolerable. Both, he stressed, “must stop.”
Speaking at a high-level conference on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, Guterres emphasized the critical importance of preserving the possibility of a two-state solution, where Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully within secure and recognized borders, based on pre-1967 lines with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.
“Let’s be clear: The creeping annexation of the occupied West Bank is illegal. It must stop,” Guterres declared. He further condemned the extensive devastation in Gaza, stating, “The wholesale destruction of Gaza is intolerable. It must stop.”
The Secretary-General highlighted that “unilateral actions that would forever undermine the two-state solution are unacceptable. They must stop.” These unilateral measures, he noted, include surging settler violence, mass demolitions, and recent Israeli legal changes that effectively annex large swaths of the West Bank, as well as the continued expansion of settlements.
Guterres underscored that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached a “breaking point,” warning against a slide towards a one-state reality marked by perpetual occupation and inequality. He described the current situation as a “moral failure of historic proportions” and a “systemic reality that is dismantling the building blocks of peace in the Middle East.”
The UN chief also reiterated his condemnation of the horrific October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and the taking of hostages, while simultaneously asserting that “nothing can justify the obliteration of Gaza that has unfolded before the eyes of the world” or “the starvation of the population.” He called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional release of all hostages, and unfettered humanitarian access.
Despite the urgency of the discussions, both the United States and Israel boycotted the UN summit, with the U.S. deeming it “counterproductive.”
Guterres urged participating nations not to let the conference become “another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric,” but rather a “decisive turning point” for achieving irreversible progress toward ending the occupation and realizing a viable two-state solution. He affirmed that “statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward, and the denial of statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere.”
