International organisations are calling for an end to Israel’s illegal presence in the Palestinian territories within 12 months.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory within a year, a move Palestine has hailed as “historic”.
The non-binding measure was passed on Wednesday by a vote of 124 to 12, with 43 countries abstaining.
The UN General Assembly demanded that “Israel put an end without delay, and in any event within twelve months, to its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a continuing illegal act for which it has international responsibility.”
It also called on Israel to compensate the Palestinians for the damage caused by the occupation.
The UN General Assembly, whose mandate is to promote “respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”, includes all of the world’s sovereign nations, and Wednesday’s vote underscores the depth of international opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The resolution endorsed an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, which found that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is illegal and must end.
The court ruled in July that Israel was abusing its status as an occupying power and stressed that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal.
The UN General Assembly vote came in the midst of Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,250 Palestinians, after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip and allow adequate humanitarian aid to the area.
The United States, which insists it is pursuing a two-state solution to the conflict, joined Israel on Wednesday in opposing the UN General Assembly resolution, along with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Argentina and several small Pacific island nations.
The resolution was submitted by Palestine, a permanent observer state at the United Nations.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the resolution and called on countries around the world to take steps to pressure Israel to comply with it.
“The international agreement on this resolution renews the hope of the Palestinian people, who are facing full-scale aggression and genocide in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, to achieve freedom and independence and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Abbas said.
Origins of the Occupation
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, then annexed the entire Holy Land in 1980.
International law prohibits the forced acquisition of land.
Israel has also built settlements in the West Bank, now home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from resettling “parts of its civilian population into occupied territory.”
Most of the international community considers the occupation to be illegal.
But the United States insists that the Palestinians and Israelis should negotiate a solution to their problem without outside pressure – a standard Washington has not applied to other conflicts, such as Russia’s occupation of parts of Ukraine.
Several U.S. allies, including France, Finland and Mexico, voted in favor of the resolution on Wednesday. Britain, Ukraine and Canada abstained.
The advocacy group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East denounced the abstention as a “cowardly refusal to stand up for international law and Palestinian freedom.”
“All countries have an obligation to work together to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory as soon as possible, but Canada abstained,” the group said in a social media post.
