Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Friday that Israel’s occupation and the Israeli settlements “are the biggest obstacles to a two-state solution, which is the only solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.”
In a comment to Norway’s submission to the International Court of Justice, Barth Eide said “the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected must stop.”
He added that “while the eyes of the world are focused on the horrific war in Gaza, the situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is also very serious.”
During Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages. Roughly half of the hostages were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November. About 100 hostages remain in captivity, in addition to the bodies of 30 others who were killed on Oct. 7 or died in captivity.
Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians and driven some 80% of the territory’s 2.3 million people from their homes. Most heeded Israeli orders to flee south, and around 1.5 million are packed into Rafah near the border with Egypt.
