UN supports resolution demanding Israel exit Palestinian territories

New York — The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel ends its presence in the Palestinian territories within 12 months.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 124-14, with 43 abstentions.

The action isolates Israel days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual UN gathering. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the 193-member General Assembly on September 26, the same day as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

The resolution welcomes a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn.

The advisory opinion — by the highest UN court, also known as the World Court — says this should be done “as rapidly as possible”, though the General Assembly resolution imposes a 12-month deadline.

The General Assembly resolution also calls on states to “take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel ... where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

The resolution is the first to be formally put forward by the Palestinian Authority (PA) since it gained additional rights and privileges in September including a seat among UN members in the assembly hall and the right to propose draft resolutions.

The PA represents the Palestinian people at the UN, where it is a non-member observer state and the delegation is known as the State of Palestine.

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged countries to vote no on Wednesday. Washington, a staunch ally of Israel, has long opposed unilateral measures that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution.

The ICJ advisory opinion is not binding but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for Israel. A General Assembly resolution also is nonbinding, but carries political weight. There is no veto power in the assembly.

“Each country has a vote, and the world is watching us,” Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly on Tuesday. “Please stand on the right side of history. With international law. With freedom. With peace.”

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon criticised the General Assembly on Tuesday for failing to condemn the October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants that sparked Israel’s assault on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

He rejected the Palestinian text, saying: “Let’s call this for what it is: this resolution is diplomatic terrorism, using the tools of diplomacy not to build bridges but to destroy them.”

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — which the Palestinians want for a state — in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them.

The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 2023 when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people including more than 360 at a music festival and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israel’s military has levelled swathes of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3-million people from their homes. The onslaught has given rise to deadly hunger and disease and killed more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The General Assembly on October 27 last year called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favour. In December, 153 countries voted to demand — instead of calling for — an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Reuters