UN chief urges 'irreversible action' on Israel, Palestinian two-state solution

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday pushed countries to "take irreversible action towards implementing a two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of an international conference in June.

"I encourage Member States to go beyond affirmations, and to think creatively about the concrete steps they will take to support a viable two-state solution before it is too late," Guterres told a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-host the conference at the United Nations in June.

"Our objective is clear: to make progress on the recognition of Palestine and the normalization of relations with Israel at the same time," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the Security Council.

"This is how we will be able to guarantee Israel's security and its regional integration, whilst responding to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to have their own state," he said.

He said the road map for the effective implementation of the two-state solution also required the disarming of Palestinian militants Hamas, defining a credible government structure in the Gaza Strip that will exclude Hamas and reform of the Palestinian Authority.

The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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