UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that there is “simply no alternative” to a two-state solution, saying time is running out as the foundations for a future Palestinian state continue to be dismantled.

Antonio Guterres delivered his remarks during a closed high-level meeting on the two-state solution chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“One year ago, many of your countries joined others in recognizing the State of Palestine,” he told the gathering, adding that in doing so, they acknowledged that a two-state solution — based on the pre-1967 lines and grounded in international law, UN Security Council resolutions and previous agreements — is the only credible path to lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis, as well as for the wider region.

The meeting came a year after France and Saudi Arabia co-chaired a summit on the two-state solution during last year’s UNGA.

Britain, France, Canada and Australia were among the countries that recognized Palestine around the summit, which built on the New York Declaration, a roadmap toward Palestinian statehood produced at a French-Saudi conference in July 2025. The UNGA endorsed the declaration that September.

Guterres warned that despite that momentum, “the conditions for an independent, democratic, contiguous, viable and sovereign Palestinian state are being systematically erased.”

Citing the International Court of Justice, he said the world has witnessed Israeli policies and practises that amount to unlawful and invalid annexation.

“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are a flagrant violation of international law,” he added.