The Middle East is on the “precipice” of a broader war that can be averted with a two-state solution allowing Israel and Palestine to exist side-by-side with Jerusalem as a shared capital, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.
However, that solution won’t come from immediate U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state after the U.S. vetoed in the Security Council a draft resolution to that effect Thursday.
Guterres’ comments came as Tehran warned it can strike Israeli nuclear sites if Israel targets Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Guterres said a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is the basis of U.N. resolutions, international law and previous agreements. The current Israeli government, however, has shown little interest in relinquishing control of the occupied territories.
“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable – a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved and for the rest of the world,” he said.
Guterres called on Israel as the “occupying power” to protect the Palestinian population in the West Bank against violence and intimidation and to allow safe passage for humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“Let me be clear − the risks are spiraling on many fronts,” he said. “We have a shared responsibility to address those risks and pull the region back from the precipice.”
