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UN secretary Guterres calls for UN and Quartet-led Israeli-Palestinian peace process

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with UN Secretary General António Guterres in Munich, Germany. February 16k, 2018. Photo by Amos Ben Gershom/GPO ***HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES*** *** Local Caption *** ????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ???"? ???"? António Guterres ??????, ??????

“The United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict and bring an end to the suffering,” Guterres said.

“The long-agreed goal is clear: To end the occupation and realize a two-state solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, in line with international law, relevant United Nations resolutions, and bilateral agreements, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states,” Guterres said in New York.
He spoke at the start of the opening 2021 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
“The United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict and bring an end to the suffering,” Guterres said.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been frozen since 2014. Former US President Donald Trump’s peace plan never led to the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks and US President Joe Biden is not expected to launch a peace process.
The Palestinian Authority wants to replace a US led peace process model with a multilateral one and PA President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international peace conference.
Guterres said that “Abbas’s call for an international peace conference under the auspices of the United Nations – and an expanded Middle East Quartet – with considered preparation and involvement by the key parties – provide a positive opportunity to advance peace in the region.”
The Quartet was largely dormant with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the Trump years, because consensus of all four of its members is needed; the United States, the UN, the European Union and Russia.
In an interview with The Washington Post this week, Guterres said that a Quartet meeting could be held within weeks.