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NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday 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.

Speaking at the High-Level International Conference for Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine at the UN General Assembly Hall, he said the decades-long conflict had 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 added, emphasizing 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.

The event was co-hosted by France and ����ֱ��, and marked the most concerted international push in recent months to revive momentum toward a negotiated peace.

Guterres thanked both governments for convening the meeting, and reiterated his disappointment that the Palestinian delegation had been “denied the opportunity (by US visa restrictions) to be fully represented.”

He again condemned the Hamas attack against Israel of Oct. 7, 2023 — calling it “horrific” and reiterating demands for the “immediate and unconditional” release of hostages — and the “systematic decimation” of Gaza in response.

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people or any form of ethnic cleansing,” he said, decrying the widespread killing of civilians, starvation of the population and attacks on humanitarian workers. “All of it must stop.”

Guterres also warned that continued Israeli settlement expansion, settler violence, and the de facto annexation of the West Bank pose an “existential threat” to any viable two-state outcome.

“Statehood for the Palestinians is a right, not a reward,” he said. “Denying statehood would be a gift to extremists everywhere.”

He added: “This conference must be a catalyst. It must spur irreversible progress towards ending the unlawful occupation and realizing our shared aspiration for a viable two-state solution.”

Guterres urged all parties to demonstrate “bold and principled leadership,” noting that the alternative — a one-state reality marked by occupation and inequality — is neither sustainable nor acceptable.

“Without two states, there will be no peace in the Middle East,” he warned. “And radicalism will spread around the world.”

The conference comes amid deepening international concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israel, most of them women and children.

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.

NEW YORK: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa renewed his call on Monday for Washington to formally lift US sanctions imposed under the 2019 Caesar Act while visiting New York to attend the first UN General Assembly of a Syrian leader in nearly six decades.

Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda leader, led rebel forces that overthrew Bashar Assad’s government last year. US President Donald Trump met him in Riyadh in May and ordered most sanctions lifted but the Caesar Syria Civil Protection Act of 2019 authorizing them remains US law.

Speaking at a summit on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly, Sharaa said the sanctions imposed on the previous Syrian leadership were no longer justified and were increasingly seen by Syrians as measures targeting them directly.

“We have a big mission to build the economy,” Sharaa said.

“Syria has a diverse workforce. They love to work, it’s in its genes. So don’t be worried, just lift the sanctions and you will see the results.”

Sharaa, the first Syrian president to participate in the General Assembly since 1967, is expected to deliver his first address at the General Assembly, which opens its 80th session on Tuesday.

Members of Congress have been debating whether to repeal the Caesar Act, which imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Syria under Assad. Some lawmakers, including Trump’s fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, want its repeal to be included as an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act, a sweeping defense bill expected to pass by the end of December.

FROM BATTLEFIELD TO DIALOGUE

Washington has separately been pressuring Syria to reach a security deal with Israel during the New York meetings this week, Reuters reported.

Israel and Syria remain formally in a state of war rooted in territorial disputes, military confrontations and deep-seated political mistrust.

Damascus hopes to secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

Sharaa said those talks had reached an advanced stage and he hoped the outcome would preserve Syria’s sovereignty and address Israeli security concerns.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, told Axios he would support canceling sanctions against Syria if Sharaa’s government officially moved toward a new security deal with Israel and joined a coalition against the Islamic State extremist group.

Asked whether Syria could join the Abraham Accords that some Arab countries have signed to normalize relations with Israel, Sharaa said anger over Israel’s occupation of Syrian territory would influence the country’s position toward Israel.

“Israel must withdraw from Syrian land, and security concerns can be addressed in talks. The question is whether Israel’s concerns are truly about security or about expansionist designs — this is what the talks will reveal,” Sharaa said.

Sharaa, who as a militant leader had a $10 million US government bounty on his head, was interviewed in New York by retired General David Petraeus, who commanded US forces during the Iraq War, putting the two men on opposing sides as Sharaa joined the Sunni insurgency following the 2003 US invasion.

“It’s good that we were once in the battlefield zone and have now moved to another theater — that of dialogue,” Sharaa told Petraeus.

Syria remains deeply fractured after 13 years of civil war.

Sharaa said a deal with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in control of the northeast of the country, was delayed.

Calls for decentralization by Kurdish parties were a step toward separation that risked igniting a wider war, he said. “This could present threats to Iraq, Turkiye and even Syria,” he added.

Sharaa later met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York and did not respond to a reporter asking if he was hopeful that the US would lift the sanctions.