‘Decisive action’ needed to end Israel-Palestine stalemate

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The President of the UN General Assembly called on Tuesday for greater action to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and a two-State solution with Israel. 

Annalena Baerbock was speaking at an Assembly plenary meeting where countries debated a resolution that affirms the UN’s responsibility for the question of Palestine.

“For 78 years the Palestinian people have been denied their inalienable rights – in particular, their right to self-determination,” she said.

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“Now, it is high time that we take decisive action to end this decades-long stalemate.”

Gaza war, West Bank violence

Ms. Baerbock said the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 “set off one of the darkest chapters in this conflict.”

She described the immense devastation and suffering in Gaza after two years of war, with thousands killed, countless more injured, communities starving, civilian infrastructure ruined and almost the entire population displaced.

Hostages have been released and reunited with their loved ones, while other families are mourning over bodies that have been returned.

Although the horrors of Gaza have dominated the news, she warned that settlement expansion, demolitions and increased settler violence in the West Bank continue to undermine the prospects for a sovereign, independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian State.

Two sovereign States

“All that has happened in the last two years has all underlined what we have known since decades. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved through illegal occupation, de jure or de facto annexation, forced displacement, recurrent terror or permanent war,” she said.

“Israelis and Palestinians will only live in lasting peace, security, and dignity when they live side by side in two sovereign and independent states, with mutually recognized borders and full regional integration.”

This is outlined in the New York Declaration, endorsed by many Member States, and UN Security Council Resolution 2803 (2025), which endorsed the ‘Comprehensive Plan to End the Conflict in Gaza’ put forward by the United States.

“We see unfortunately again on a daily basis that these are only words on paper if we do not deliver,” she said.

Ceasefire and humanitarian aid

“We need to ensure that the ceasefire is consolidated and becomes a permanent end to hostilities,” she added, noting that at least 67 children have been killed since the fragile truce began.

Ms. Baerbock also stressed the need to ensure that aid is delivered throughout the Gaza Strip safely and unhindered, and in full accordance with international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles.

This includes delivery through the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA.

She noted that “as outlined in the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the obligations of Israel…allowing UNRWA to fulfil its mandate and continue operations there is not merely a gesture of goodwill, it is a legal obligation.” 

Ms. Baerbock said that “the quest for peace, stability and justice in the Middle East needs our United Nations” – and for the General Assembly to play a meaningful role.

Right to self-determination 

“It requires every Member State to walk the talk: to engage in this process, to uphold the United Nations Charter, to adhere to international law, and the promise this institution made to all the people of the world 80 years ago,” she continued.

“Let us recall once more: self-determination, and the right to live in one’s own state in peace, security, and dignity, free from war, occupation and violence, is not a privilege to be earned, but a right to be upheld.”