UN envoy: Israel's rejection of two-state solution 'unacceptable'

China's top envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday said that Israel's rejection of the two-state solution and denial of a Palestinian "right to statehood" are "unacceptable".

The two-state solution is the "only feasible way" to achieve peace between Palestine and Israel and it is also a "strict requirement" for implementing Security Council resolutions, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN.

"We are deeply concerned about the Israeli leader's remarks last week, rejecting the two-state solution and denying Palestine's right to statehood. These remarks are unacceptable," he told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question on Tuesday.

Any discussion of postwar arrangements in Gaza that deviates from the two-state solution is "tantamount to building a house on quicksand", he said.

China calls for intensifying diplomatic efforts, convening an international peace conference as soon as possible, initiating a meaningful multilateral process and reviving the political prospects of the two-state solution, said Zhang.

"The establishment of an independent state of Palestine must be an irreversible process, and we support, as a first step in that process, Palestine's full membership in the United Nations as soon as possible," the ambassador said.

"There has long been an overwhelming consensus in the international community on the immediate realization of a cease-fire, and it is regrettable that the adoption of the relevant Security Council resolutions has been made difficult by the repeated vetoes of individual countries," said Zhang.

The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had long since shown the fundamental way out for peace; what was lacking was political will and determination, he said.

Zhang called on Israel to "immediately change course and cease its indiscriminate military attacks and destruction of Gaza".

"All parties in the international community should focus their diplomatic efforts on promoting an immediate cease-fire," he said.

While promoting the cease-fire in Gaza, every effort must be made to prevent the spillover impact of the situation in Gaza on the Red Sea and the wider region, he said.

Zhang also called for the removal of all obstacles to expanding humanitarian assistance. "Not only did people in Gaza die from war bombings, but hunger and the accelerated spread of infectious diseases also claimed more lives, especially the lives of children," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he "will not compromise on full Israeli control" over Gaza and that "this is contrary to a Palestinian state".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday also said Israel's rejection of a two-state solution is "unacceptable".

"Last week's clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution at the highest levels of the Israeli government is unacceptable," he said at the Security Council meeting.

"This refusal, and the denial of the right to statehood to the Palestinian people, would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security. It would exacerbate polarization and embolden extremists everywhere," Guterres said.

He said that the right of the Palestinian people to build their own fully independent state must be recognized by all. And any refusal to accept the two-state solution by any party must be firmly rejected, he said.