UN Chief has a Dream: See Two States in the Holy Land

Visiting Gaza for the first time since taking office as United Nations Secretary-General in January, António Guterres said Wednesday he has a dream, a dream to see two states established in the Holy Land.

“I have a dream. A dream to one day see the Holy Land with two states – Israel and Palestine – living in peace and security together,” Guterres told reporters in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, at a school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Guterres underscored the importance of a credible political process and actions to improve living conditions of Palestinians.

“It is important to open the closures, in line with resolution 1860” he said, referring the Security Council resolution from 2009 which called for an immediate ceasefire to the fighting between Israel and Hamas and lifting of blockades for food, fuel and medicines.

The resolution was meant to defuse an intra-Palestinian conflict, which flared up when Hamas took over Gaza in 2007. Since then, Israel sought to isolate the group by restricting the movements of goods and people in and out of the strip.

In his statement Wednesday, Guterres said it was important to avoid the “build-up of the militantism that can undermine the confidence between the two people”.

Guterres, who toured the Israeli-Gaza border by helicopter and then crossed it by vehicle, called the conditions in Gaza, “one of the most dramatic humanitarian crises” he has seen during his time working as a humanitarian.

The UN chief appealed to the international community to strongly support humanitarian aid in Gaza and ordered an immediate release of $4 million from the limited resources of the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), to support the UN activities working for the benefit of the Gaza people.

The two million people living in Gaza lack access to basic services, such as electricity, food or healthcare. The real gross domestic product (GDP) is largely stagnant, unemployment is up and the infrastructure and private sector have been gradually debilitated, according to a UN report published last month.

The UN Secretary General also called for Palestinian unity, in line with the principles of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which include rejecting violence and terrorism, and recognizing Israel’s right to exist in peace. Division only undermines the cause of the Palestinian people, he insisted.