UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the General Debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 23, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the first day of the general debate that "in Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year," highlighting "a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict" in his years as secretary-general.

by Xinhua writer Xia Lin

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from across the world convened in New York on Tuesday for the General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in support of Palestinian statehood, but over opposition from Israel and the United States, as the Gaza Strip neared the two-year mark of a war that has brought mass casualties, destruction and hunger.

A COLLECTIVE VOICE

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the first day of the general debate that "in Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year," highlighting "a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict" in his years as secretary-general.

He called for the full and immediate implementation of the International Court of Justice measures, a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and humanitarian access, adding that "we must not relent in the only viable answer to sustainable Middle East peace: a two-state solution."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the Hamas terror attacks in his remarks on Tuesday, noting that international humanitarian law and the myth of Western exceptionalism were buried under the rubble there, and the survival of the Palestinian people requires an independent state.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto reiterated his country's complete support for the two-state solution, calling for both Palestine and Israel to be free and independent, safe and secure from threats and terrorism. Indonesia is ready to deploy 20,000 or even more people to help secure peace in Gaza or elsewhere, and this year, over self-sufficiency, it exported rice to other nations in need, including to Palestine, he said.

Jordan's King Abdullah II said that security will only come when Palestine and Israel begin to co-exist side by side. "This is the two-state solution, in line with international law and UN resolutions: an independent and viable Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, ... alongside a secure Israel, ... living in peace with its neighbors," he noted.

"We reaffirm our support of the two-state solution with the UN playing a central role. Kazakhstan acknowledges diplomatic initiatives aimed at regional reconciliation in the Middle East," said Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

"We cannot turn a blind eye to the deeply worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the continuation of political negotiations," said Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, adding that "in line with the UN resolutions, we remain steadfast supporters of the two-state solution principle."

Photo taken on the Rashid road, the coastal road west of Gaza City, shows a Palestinian kid from the northern Gaza Strip fleeing to the south amid the large-scale Israeli military operation in the Gaza City, Sept. 18, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

UNCERTAINTIES AHEAD

Speaking Tuesday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump struck a different tone, urging immediate action in Gaza. "Release the hostages now -- just release the hostages now," he said, adding that "we have to negotiate peace, get the hostages back -- all 20 back -- and 38 dead bodies back." Meanwhile, he warned against unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, saying it would amount to "a reward to Hamas for its horrible atrocities."

A summit organized by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of the general debate in New York was portrayed as an urgent effort to salvage the long-deferred vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, as Israel continues its offensive in Gaza City against Hamas and rapidly expands its settlements in the West Bank, the notion seems more distant than ever.

"We must pave the way for peace," said French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, to applause from those at the meeting and a standing ovation from the Palestinian delegation. "Today, France recognizes the State of Palestine," he said, noting recent statements of recognition, some not yet formalized, by Britain, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium and several others.

"France, Britain and the other countries recognizing a Palestinian state this week say they aim to salvage whatever hope remains for the internationally backed formula to end the half-century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: a Jewish state of Israel at peace with a neighboring Palestinian one," reported The New York Times on Monday.

"But nearly two years into the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, Israelis and Palestinians alike say the possibility of a two-state solution seems more remote than ever," it noted.

On Sept. 12, the General Assembly adopted by a wide margin the "New York Declaration," which called for "just and lasting peace grounded in international law and based on the two-state solution." To end the war, it urged Hamas to "end its role in Gaza, and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority." The United States and Israel voted against the text.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "a Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River."

The idea of establishing one nation each for Jewish and Palestinian populations, living alongside each other in peace, predated the UN's founding in 1945. Drafted and redrafted since then, the concept has appeared in dozens of UN Security Council resolutions, multiple peace talks and in the General Assembly's recently resumed 10th emergency special session.

On Tuesday, Guterres warned that the viability of a two-state solution is steadily eroding, now reaching its most critical level in more than a generation, in a statement at a UN Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian question, highlighting relentless settlement expansion, de facto annexation, and forced displacement as evidence of the erosion.

"Cycles of deadly violence, including by extremist settlers, have entrenched an unlawful Israeli occupation and pushed us perilously close to a point of no return," he added.