U.N. Sec.-Gen.: Best For Hamas To Assume Leadership In Gaza And Israel 'Accepts' Two-State Solution

U.N. Sec.-Gen.: ‘Best Case Scenario’ Is Palestinian Authority to Assume Leadership in Gaza and Israel ‘Accepts’ Two-State Solution. Guterres: "Well, I think we need to work for what could be a best-case scenario. I mean, usually, politicians transform opportunities into problems. I hope that it will be possible to transform this problem into an opportunity. The best-case scenario would be that reinvigorated Palestinian Authority would be able to assume the leadership also in Gaza, and then that Israel would accept to seriously negotiate a two-state solution with the support of the international community. That is the best-case scenario. For the best-case scenario to be possible, the question of how does the military operation end and how is the establishment of an authority by the Palestinian Authority is the complex one. And that is where a transition is necessary. I understand it will be very difficult for Palestinian Authority or for a group of Arab countries to come to assume responsibilities in Gaza in the presence of an Israeli army. I understand the difficulty, politically, to be very sensitive. So to organize the transition is something that is very important. And I have to say that there is a country that in my opinion has particular capacity and particular responsibility to contribute to it, and that is the United States of America. And I have to pay tribute, independently of many other aspects, in relation to putting pressure on Israel for humanitarian aid to be delivered in Gaza, the U.S. has been consistently in support of that."
Guterres: "Well, I think we need to work for what could be a best-case scenario. I mean, usually, politicians transform opportunities into problems. I hope that it will be possible to transform this problem into an opportunity. The best-case scenario would be that reinvigorated Palestinian Authority would be able to assume the leadership also in Gaza, and then that Israel would accept to seriously negotiate a two-state solution with the support of the international community. That is the best-case scenario. For the best-case scenario to be possible, the question of how does the military operation end and how is the establishment of an authority by the Palestinian Authority is the complex one. And that is where a transition is necessary. I understand it will be very difficult for Palestinian Authority or for a group of Arab countries to come to assume responsibilities in Gaza in the presence of an Israeli army. I understand the difficulty, politically, to be very sensitive. So to organize the transition is something that is very important. And I have to say that there is a country that in my opinion has particular capacity and particular responsibility to contribute to it, and that is the United States of America. And I have to pay tribute, independently of many other aspects, in relation to putting pressure on Israel for humanitarian aid to be delivered in Gaza, the U.S. has been consistently in support of that."