UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Warns Two-State Solution Is Being 'Destroyed by Facts on the Ground'

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told a high-level ministerial meeting at the United Nations that the two-state solution is being "destroyed by the facts on the ground," citing Israel's August E1 tender as the latest example.

Speaking in New York on 24 September 2026 at the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, Miliband said there is "only one route to security, freedom, and dignity for the Israelis and Palestinian people, and that is the two-state solution."

He said the UK, alongside France and Canada and following countries including Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Norway, had declared the occupation of the territories illegal and acted on economic relationships with illegal settlements, banning the import of goods and seeking to cut finance and construction supply lines to settlement expansion. "These are necessary steps, but they are not sufficient," he said.

Miliband said Hamas will play no role in future governments of Gaza but must decommission weapons and "irradicate terrorism," and voiced support for the U.S.-led 20-point plan and the Palestinian Authority's work to provide a single legitimate Palestinian framework.

He warned the biggest danger is meeting again in a year with worse facts on the ground, and set out two priorities: "moral clarity about what is happening" and "political pressure on the government of Israel."

He said he chaired a meeting with Jordan that morning on Gaza's humanitarian situation, describing blocked medical supplies and children dying waiting for operations. "It should shame us all," he said, adding it should shame the international community and members of the Israeli government "who are letting this happen."