No country in the Middle East can achieve lasting security at the expense of another. The region needs a new security architecture. One in which the future is shaped by the peoples & countries of the region, rather than by war after war after war – many times fueled by external actors.

I’m deeply alarmed by Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank. Settlements are expanding, evictions are unrelenting with Palestinians driven from their lands, settler violence is surging, Palestinian families are being assaulted.  We are seeing an increasingly coercive environment, with the spectre of ethnic cleansing looming ever larger.  This must end.  There can be no durable peace in the Middle East without the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

The Palestinian people continue to endure immense suffering. Israeli restrictions on humanitarian assistance must be lifted. The obstacles to implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict endorsed by the Security Council must be removed. Civilians must be protected. And international law must be respected. The two-State solution remains the only viable path: Israel & Palestine living side-by-side in peace & security.