The African Union, the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation issued a joint statement on November 4 affirming that just and lasting peace can only be achieved through implementation of the two-state solution based on ending Israeli colonial occupation and immediate withdrawal to the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent State of Palestine. The statement came from a consultative meeting held at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa.
Historical Framework
The two-state solution proposes creating two states on the territory of former Mandatory Palestine. The first formal proposal for separate Jewish and Arab states appeared in the British Peel Commission report of 1937. In 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a partition plan for Palestine, leading to the 1948 war. Israel was established on the area the UN had proposed for the Jewish state plus almost 60 percent of the area proposed for the Arab state, according to the record. Jordan took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, annexing it the following year. Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip but never annexed it.
Since the 1967 Six-Day War, both the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip have been militarily occupied by Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization accepted the concept of a two-state solution at the 1982 Arab Summit, based on an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. In 2017, Hamas announced a revised charter claiming to accept the idea of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, though without recognizing Israeli statehood.
International Consensus
The UN General Assembly called for implementing a two-state solution by a vote of 142 to 10 in September 2025. Since 2015, the UN has passed 187 resolutions condemning Israel while issuing zero condemnations of the Palestinian Authority, according to the filing. The foreign ministers of Canada, the United Kingdom and ten European countries publicly declared their commitment to a Palestinian state just a month ago, blaming Israel for undermining the two-state solution.
The November 4 joint statement renews commitments to advocate for practical steps to implement the two-state solution, continue working to implement relevant UN resolutions and the New York Declaration of 2025, and stresses the need for member states to take adequate measures to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to independence, return, self-determination and statehood.
Israeli Position
Israel currently does not support the two-state idea, though it did in the past. Long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu objects to the two-state solution. Former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert expressed support for a two-state solution in late 2023. Diplomatic efforts have centered on realizing a two-state solution since the failed 2000 Camp David Summit and the Clinton Parameters, followed by the Taba Summit in 2001. The Arab Peace Initiative, the 2006–2008 peace offer, and the 2013–2014 peace talks all formed around this framework. Currently there is no two-state solution proposal being negotiated between Israel and Palestinians.
U.S. Political Context
Vice President JD Vance blamed the U.S.-Israel alliance as a chief driver of Republican election losses less than 24 hours after midterm defeats. American views of Israel have grown progressively more negative over the past years, with only a third now supporting the Israeli government, sources familiar with the polling indicate. On the American left, opposition centers on Israeli military operations in Gaza and settler movement behavior in the West Bank. On the right, the issue has focused on how Netanyahu persuaded President Trump to agree to a joint attack on Iran.
Concrete Steps Outlined
The joint statement urges implementation of the second phase of the Gaza Peace Agreement, leading to permanent ceasefire, ending the Israeli siege and occupation, opening all crossing points for humanitarian assistance, and commencing reconstruction of Gaza while ensuring territorial contiguity and integrity. It rejects any Israeli attempts or plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, considering such acts a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
The statement calls on states that have moved or announced intentions to move diplomatic missions to Occupied Jerusalem to rescind these decisions, which violate relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and to refrain from any action capable of consolidating Israeli occupation or recognizing illegal annexation measures. The three organizations stress the illegality of all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
Sources
- Palestinian terror killed the ‘two-state solution'
- Two-state solution
- JOINT STATEMENTISSUED BY THE CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON THE DEVELOPMENTS RELATING TO THE PALESTINIAN CAUSE
- The politics of war
- Michigan needs a two-state solution
- Joint Statement Issued by the Consultative Meeting on the Developments Relating to the Palestinian Cause
Photo: U.S. Department of State (Public domain)
