September 22, 2025: Taoiseach Micheal Martin addresses the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Ireland's Taoiseach Micheál Martin reiterated his call for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine while addressing a UN conference in New York City on Monday, September 22.
The Taoiseach was speaking during the last plenary meeting of the UN's High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which was convened via resolutions adopted at last year's UN General Assembly.
The Conference is reaffirming international commitments to the two-State solution for Israel and Palestine and is seeking to mobilize support for its implementation.
Ireland and Türkiye are the co-chairs of "Preserving the Two-State Solution," one of the Conference's eight working groups.
The Conference will adopt an action-oriented outcome document - "Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and implementation of the two-State solution" - to urgently chart an irreversible pathway towards the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution.
Addressing the session on Monday, the Taoiseach said: "Those of us gathered here know that the only viable option to deliver a peaceful future for Israel and for Palestine is a two-state solution.
"At this most critical juncture, we must continue to put our full political weight behind it.
"The situation on the ground has rarely looked so bleak – a just and lasting peace seems further away than it ever has.
"But in our own peace process in Northern Ireland, a conflict of 24 years of duration, we recognized that, even in the darkest of days, we had a duty as leaders to keep the flame of hope alive and to keep talking.
"The immense suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza over the past two years has been an affront to the world.
"It has horrified people around the world, nowhere more than in Ireland, where people have been moved to sorrow and to anger.
"What happened to Israel on the 7th of October was a horrific and brutal attack on an innocent civilian population, and Hamas must be held to account for its actions.
"It was an appalling act of crime, war crime.
"But it cannot justify what has happened since. More than 65,000 people killed in Gaza – horrifically, more than 20,000 of them children."
He continued: "We have reached a point where what is credibly described as a genocide is being carried out in front of the eyes of the world.
"It would be easy to just despair, but we must not. Gaza must inspire us to action.
"There are still humanitarian workers, medics, journalists determined to do their best for the people of Gaza and of Palestine. They are doing so with the most extraordinary courage and without regard to their own safety.
"To honor them, and the Palestinian people, it is right that we, as political leaders, play our part, too.
"The only way to end the appalling cycle of violence is to forge a political path.
"And the only credible destination is a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security.
"And that is why Ireland, last year, with Spain, Norway, and Slovenia, recognized the State of Palestine.
"I commend those who have taken the decision to recognize the State of Palestine this week, and I strongly urge those who have yet to do so to give it serious consideration.
"We know that there are people, including in the Israeli Government, who are working daily to make that outcome impossible.
"In addition to the destruction of Gaza, settlements are expanding every day, and illegal settlers in the West Bank are increasingly emboldened and militant.
"If we do not move now to protect the two-state solution, if we do not work to build a process through which it can be achieved, there may never be another opportunity.
"That must not be our legacy to future generations.
"Ireland is ready to play its part, and I look forward to our continuing steadfast cooperation."