Guterres made the plea in a message read out by his deputy Amina Mohammed to a forum held at the UN headquarters in New York to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War.

The Israeli occupation has imposed a heavy humanitarian burden on the Palestinian people as “Generations of Palestinians have grown up in crowded refugee camps, many in abject poverty and with little or no prospect of a better life for their children,” Guterres said.

He also underlined the need for establishing an independent Palestinian state and noted that ending the occupation “is the only way to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

It is time to return to direct negotiations between the two sides and settle issues on the basis of relevant UN resolutions, agreements and international law, the UN chief added.

Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would remove a driver of violence in the Middle East and “open the doors to cooperation, security, prosperity and human rights for all,” he concluded.

Additionally, Mohammed addressed the forum and highlighted the necessity of the so-called two-state solution.

“I understand the deep sense of despair of the Palestinian people. For far too long, the international community has failed to find a just and lasting solution to their displacement,” she said. “Some think that the situation can be managed. They are all wrong. It must be resolved.”
Furthermore, Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat also addressed the event and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of promoting apartheid.