Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Marwan Abdel-Al strongly condemned US-allied countries in Europe and the Middle East for promoting the “two-state solution.” He called it a “recycled political illusion that reality has rendered obsolete” and described it as a solution that “exists only in diplomatic statements.”

Recently, France announced it would formally recognize the State of Palestine at the upcoming United Nations meeting in September. This recognition is conditional upon the Palestinian Authority organizing elections in 2026, condemning “terrorism,” and removing Hamas from the administration of Gaza, where its officials have held office since 2006.

In this context, the European Union and Arab League renewed support for the two-state solution at a conference co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia in July. The two countries present this as a solution to armed conflict in Gaza and a means to allegedly establish peace in the region. One of the conditions is the surrender of Hamas, which leads the armed resistance against the US-Israeli genocide, along with other armed groups including the PFLP.

Under the two-state solution, the state of Palestine would be established in fragmented and cramped territories left to them after Israel seized and occupied their territories in 1967. This arrangement greatly disadvantages the Palestinian people especially since Israel has occupied even the limited designated spaces.

Abdel-Al questioned how “two states” could exist with continuing Israeli genocide, land grabbing and expansion. Reports state that 700,000 Israelis now occupy Palestinian lands in the West Bank. Meanwhile, head of Zionist state Benjamin Netanyahu has brazenly stated that his real intention is to seize all of Gaza and confine the remaining Palestinians to overcrowded evacuation centers. Even before the outbreak of Operation Al Aqsa Flood in October 2023, Gaza and the West Bank were already like large prisons—territories surrounded by high walls, dotted with checkpoints, and under tight Israeli military supervision.

Abdel-Al asserts that the “two-state” solution would only perpetuate the Zionist state’s brutal colonial rule. He criticized France and other countries for pushing the two-state solution while none of them have fully withdrawn support from Israel; instead, they continue to support the genocide in Gaza through direct and indirect means. While these countries maintain pressure on Palestine and Hamas, they do nothing meaningful to restrain Israel, which refuses to accept the “two-state” solution or the existence of the state of Palestine.

Many young Palestinians believe the two-state solution is a “political trap,” Abdel-Al said. Instead, they demand justice grounded in history, their right to return to their people’s land, and the dismantling of the “apartheid” system that treats Palestinians as second-class citizens in their own land.