Israeli, Palestinian UK envoys give opposing views on 2-state solution

LONDON: The Palestinians are committed to negotiations on a two-state solution, the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot said days after his Israeli counterpart voiced her country’s rejection of such an outcome.
Zomlot told Sky News that the Palestine Liberation Organization remains the representative entity of the Palestinian people, and “is committed to international resolutions that include the two-state solution and ending Israeli occupation.”
He added: “If Israel and when Israel is ready, the Palestinian people have sufficient institutions to engage.”
Earlier this week, Israel’s Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely said her country will “absolutely” reject any possibility of a two-state solution after the war in Gaza ends.

Asked about polls that showed growing support for Hamas in the Occupied Territories following its Oct. 7 attack, Zomlot said Israel’s actions over the past decades have made people lose hope in reaching a political solution.
“The day before Oct. 7, for a period of 30 years, Israel used every single opportunity to deprive people of any hope towards a different future, of stealing more land, of displacing more people, of demolishing more houses,” he added.
“All of a sudden, we’re surprised that an Israeli ambassador says absolutely not for a two-state solution.”
Israel has staged a full-scale invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, killing more than 18,500 Palestinians and pushing the besieged enclave to a serious humanitarian crisis.