Middle East conflict

11 Apr, 14:40Updated at: 15:03

UN notes historic opportunity of recognizing Palestine’s statehood

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Sigrid Kaag noted that soon this issue may cease to be debated because too many decades have elapsed since the onset of this discussion

ANTALYA, April 11. /TASS/. The global community has a historic opportunity to recognize Palestine as a state, but it will slip away if UN member states don’t display courage and political will, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Sigrid Kaag said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

"We have a historic opportunity but to my mind it is disappearing," she said at a panel discussion on achieving peace in the Middle East.

Kaag also noted that soon this issue may cease to be debated because too many decades have elapsed since the onset of this discussion. According to her, not taking this opportunity will only damage Israel’s security "because Palestinians won’t go anywhere." Due to this, she urged UN member states to display political will and courage and put pressure on both sides.

"I think there’s an opportunity in the France/Saudi-led conference, but it’s gotta be real and tangible. We don’t need more biblical texts, we don’t need more UN texts because it doesn’t get you statehood," the UN official concluded.

On April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris and Saudi Arabia will hold an international conference on implementing the two-state solution in the near future in order to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Macron did not rule out that in June, France may recognize the State of Palestine.

In 2024, in light of the exacerbated situation in the Middle East, Ireland, Spain and Norway announced their decision to recognize Palestine as an independent state. In response, Israel announced the recall of ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid and Oslo for consultations. Simultaneously, the heads of the diplomatic missions of Ireland, Spain and Norway in Israel were summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

The two-state solution proposes creating an independent sovereign state of Palestine within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.

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