CAPE TOWN, March 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa remains convinced that a two-state solution is the only possible solution for durable peace in the Middle East, President Jacob Zuma said Thursday.
"We reiterate that the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories undermines global efforts aimed at realizing the two state solution and the Oslo accord," Zuma told MPs in his first parliamentary appearance this year.
U.S. President Donald Trump last month said he was open to a one-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict, appearing to back away from a decades-long U.S. commitment to supporting a separate Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Zuma said the one-state solution would not achieve durable peace in the Middle East.
After 50 years under Israeli occupation, Palestinians continue to live in deplorable conditions, Zuma said.
South Africa continues to support all international efforts aimed at achieving a viable Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel, in terms of the 1967 borders, he said.
These initiatives include the French Initiative in which South Africa participated last year, he said.
South Africa has supported UN resolutions in support of Palestine and also played a leading role in the attempts by Palestine to gain UN membership, said Zuma.
