Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, stands next to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as they deliver statements in Jerusalem on June 28, 2016. (AFP/Pool/Ronen Zvulun)
UNITED NATIONS, United States — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday that hopes for a two-state peace settlement between Israel and a future Palestine are fading fast, and urged both sides to take action.
Marking the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” Ban warned that settlement building and home demolitions undermine Israeli democracy.
November 29 marks the 69th anniversary of the United Nations recognizing the Partition Plan that called for the creation of the State of Israel.
Ban also criticized the Palestinians’ “paralyzing lack of unity” and warned that their infighting has damaged their own democracy and the rule of law.
Ban Ki-moon, left, meets with Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on June 28, 2016. (FLASH90)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement largely controls the West Bank, while the rival Islamist group Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since a bloody 2007 coup. A series of attempts at reconciliation have fallen flat.
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The UN chief, whose terms ends at the end of the year, told both sides that unless they act to revive hopes for peace, “they risk entrenching a one-state reality.”
Ban hailed a July report by the Middle East Quartet — the United Nations, European Union, Russia and the United States — as a blueprint for revived talks.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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