UN Chief Urges Israel, Palestine to Restore Two-State Solution Promise

NEW YORK (Sputnik) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Israel and Palestine to peacefully resolve their conflict by supporting the two-state solution plan.

"I urge Israel, Palestine and all others with influence to restore the promise and viability of the two-State solution premised on two States living side by side in peace, harmony and within secure and recognized borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both," Guterres said in a statement on Friday.

Guterres noted that this year the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, observed on November 29, takes place at a time of "turmoil, trouble and torment."

Tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians near the Gaza border have been mounting since late March. The Palestinians had fired almost 500 missiles and mortar shells at southern Israel, while the Israelis conducted strikes on over 150 buildings and facilities in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, at least 40 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli troops near the Gaza Strip border. Earlier on Friday, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry Ashraf Qidra told Sputnik that at least 12 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli troops near the Gaza Strip border.

WATCH: IDF Planes Launch Strikes in Gaza After Israeli Bus Hit by Mortar Fire

For decades, Palestine has been in conflict with the Israeli government that refuses to recognize it as an independent political and diplomatic state on the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Despite objections from the United Nations, the Israeli government continues to build settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.