'Denying Palestinian State...’: UN Chief's Strong Counter to Israel and Allies
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Monday September 22, 2025 while addressing the Palestinian Statehood Conference rejected the Israeli assertion that recognition of the State of Palestine is rewarding Hamas
United Nations: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Monday September 22, 2025 while addressing the Palestinian Statehood Conference rejected the Israeli assertion that recognition and creation of the State of Palestine is rewarding Hamas.
“Statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward. Denying statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere”, Guterres said addressing the High-Level International Conference for Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine at the UN General Assembly Hall in New York.
Guterres called for “irreversible progress” toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that failure to act risks perpetuating an “intolerable” and worsening crisis.
He said the decades-long conflict has reached a “morally, legally and politically intolerable” point, citing mounting civilian casualties in Gaza and growing instability in the West Bank.
“We are here today to help navigate the only way out of this nightmare,” Guterres said.
The UN Chief emphasized on the UN-backed vision of two independent, sovereign and democratic states — Israel and Palestine — coexisting peacefully within secure and recognized borders based on the pre-1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the shared capital.
Decrying the widespread killing of civilians, starvation of the population and attacks on humanitarian workers in Gaza, the UN Chief said, “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people or any form of ethnic cleansing.”
“All of this must stop”, he asserted.
“Only credible path to a just and lasting peace”
The day-long Palestinian Statehood Conference is co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France. The conference is organized about a week after the UN General Assembly in a resolution adopted by a huge majority vote called for the creation of the Independent State of Palestine and end to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
“Without two states, there will be no peace in the Middle East,” Guterres warned in his address Monday.
Guterres welcomed recent moves by member states to recognize Palestinian statehood and the UNGA’s endorsement of the Saudi-French New York Declaration, which calls for concrete steps toward a negotiated peace.
“This is the only credible path to a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians — and to wider peace and security in the Middle East,” he said.
“The time has come”
Speaking at the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “the time has come” to end the war in Gaza, free the remaining 48 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, and revive the two-state solution.
Macron had earlier received a long standing ovation as he formally announced France’s recognition of the State of Palestine, calling it a “historic and necessary” step to end the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish a durable peace in the Middle East.
“We’ve gathered here because the time has come ... The time for peace has come because we’re just a few moments away from no longer being able to seize peace,” Macron said.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who’ve been displaced, injured, famished, traumatized,” he added.
“Nothing justifies the ongoing war in Gaza. On the contrary, everything compels us to definitively end it”, he said.
United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, San Marino and Andorra were the other countries that recognized the Independent State of Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly September 2025.
With this, Palestine is officially recognized by 152 of the UN’s 193 member states, and currently holds observer status within the United Nations.
In a related development, China has called for a full UN membership of the State of Palestine. The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution asking the UN Security Council grant a full membership to the Palestine.
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