Jimmy Carter: Option of Two-state Solution Is Fading, With 'Dire Consequences' for Israel

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is warning that the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "is being overtaken by a one-state reality which will have dire consequences for Israel in the long-term."

Carter concluded that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state "is in Israel's best interest."

In a statement to the Security Council read Thursday by former U.S. ambassador Richard Murphy, Carter said that a two-state solution "must be anchored on 1967 borders with agreed upon adjustments and with Jerusalem as the capital for both Israelis and Palestinians."

He said Gaza "is teetering on the brink of a humanitarian disaster" and warned that another war in the Hamas-ruled territory is "a real possibility — and the consequences would be catastrophic."

On Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the UN Security Council to convene an international peace conference by mid-2018 to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Abbas criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and claimed this "unlawful decision" should be frozen. He also blamed Israel for failure to reach peace: "Israel shut the door on the two-state solution," Abbas concluded.