United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated that Palestinian statehood is a legitimate right, not a privilege. Speaking at the UN headquarters on September 22 (US Eastern Time), Guterres said: “Denying Palestinians their right to statehood would only empower extremists worldwide. Without two states, there can be no peace in the Middle East.” His remarks came just ahead of the 80th UN General Assembly in New York, where the ongoing war in Gaza has dominated discussions following a wave of formal recognitions for Palestine by several Western powers.

 

Growing international recognition for Palestine

 

On September 22, French President Emmanuel Macron formally declared France’s recognition of the State of Palestine, joining Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, which had all taken the same step a day earlier. These moves are widely seen as efforts to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel amid its continued military operations in Gaza.

 

“The time has come,” Macron said at a summit on the two-state solution in New York. “Today, France recognises the State of Palestine, in line with our historic commitment to Middle East peace and to lasting coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.”

 

Macron emphasized that acknowledging Palestine is not a concession to Hamas but rather “the only solution that will allow Israel to live in peace.” He called the recognition a defeat for extremism and urged the world to act decisively to safeguard the possibility of two states living side by side in peace and security.

 

Meanwhile, Canada, Australia and the UK endorsed a resolution backing the two-state solution, reiterating their earlier commitment to grant recognition should Israel refuse to agree to a ceasefire.

 

UN resolution on two-state solution

 

Earlier, on September 12, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution in support of reviving the two-state framework for resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The measure was adopted less than a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a Palestinian state would “never” come into existence.

 

India was among the 142 nations that voted in favor of the resolution, formally titled “Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.”

 

Responding to the growing wave of international recognition, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed the decisions, calling them an important safeguard for the two-state solution and a necessary step toward achieving peace.