A Palestinian medic carries a wounded boy during clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, March 30, 2019. (Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official on Thursday asked the leaders of Israel and Palestine to reverse the trajectory of violence and work toward a two-state solution.

"Leaders have a responsibility to their populations to reverse this negative trajectory and pave the way toward peace, stability, and reconciliation. The only way to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and lasting peace and security for Israel is through the two-state solution," UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco told a forum on the question of Palestine.

It is well past time to resolve the conflict. And the solution is clear -- indeed, has been clear for a long time: the realization of the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, based on relevant UN resolutions, long-held principles, previous agreements, and international law, said Fernandez-Taranco, who spoke on behalf of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The parties to the conflict owe it to their citizens and to future generations of Israelis and Palestinians, and the international community owes it to them, to exert all possible efforts to break the cycle of violence, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, said Fernandez-Taranco.

Unfortunately, the situation is not moving in the direction of sustainable peace, he said. "As we have witnessed over the last weeks, security incidents and provocations continue to dangerously escalate the already precarious situation in Gaza, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and at times inside Israel."

The indiscriminate launching from Gaza into Israel and the subsequent Israeli military strikes on Gaza threatened to derail the precarious calm. A new conflict would be devastating for the Palestinian people. It would have consequences for Israelis who live in the vicinity of the Gaza perimeter and would be likely to have regional repercussions, he warned.

The UN secretary-general and his special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, have called on all sides to exercise maximum restraint as the situation remains extremely tense, he noted.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains defined by prolonged suffering and deep despair. The strip remains under severe closures and restrictions on the freedom of movement of people and goods. The military buildup by Hamas and other militant groups continues, said Fernandez-Taranco.

Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian state, and Palestinian unity is needed for a politically stable, economically viable, sovereign, and independent state of Palestine, he said.