'Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved by endless war’: UN General Assembly president

HAMILTON, Canada

UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday called for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

"We have a high-level international conference for the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution," Baerbock told reporters at a news conference ahead of next week's General Assembly high-level session.

"This is a chance to address the reality that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved by endless war," she said, emphasizing that "the only way to ensure that both Israelis and Palestinians can live in lasting peace, security and dignity is the two-state solution."

Responding to a question about her earlier remarks concerning civilian infrastructure in Gaza, where she argued it would lose its protective status under international law if there are terrorists around, Baerbock said: "It is crystal clear that international humanitarian law calls for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure."

"They must be protected always. And I've been also crystal clear on that one in the past in the speeches, but I'm here again that civilians must not be targeted, full stop," she said, adding that her words had been taken out of context on social media.

She argued that "international law also calls that civilians cannot be misused. That also the misuse of civilian sides for military purposes is not allowed in international law."

"In international humanitarian law, we have the Geneva Convention. It is very clear that civilians always have to be protected," Baerbock said.