The UN General Assembly is considering a Palestinian resolution Tuesday demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year and calling for sanctions and an arms embargo against the country.
It will be put to a vote in the 193-member assembly Wednesday as Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza approaches its first anniversary and as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs. The war was triggered by Hamas attacks in southern Israel on 7 October.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, urged member nations to reject the measure, describing it as “an attempt to destroy Israel through diplomatic terrorism” and that "ignores the truth, twists the facts and replaces reality with fiction.”
“Instead of a resolution condemning the rape and massacre committed by Hamas on 7 October, we gather here to watch the Palestinians’ UN circus — a circus where evil is righteous, war is peace, murder is justified and terror is applauded,” he told the assembly. “This resolution doesn't move the region forward, it drags the region backward, delaying the hope for peace and advancement.”
The resolution, if adopted by the General Assembly, would not be legally binding but the extent of its support would reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly, unlike in the 15-member Security Council.
It follows a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
In the sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over the lands it captured during the 1967 war, the International Court of Justice said Israel had no right to sovereignty over the territories and was violating international laws against acquiring the lands by force.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, opened the General Assembly meeting by saying Palestinians face an “existential threat.” He claimed Israel has held them “in shackles” and that it's beyond time Israel's occupation ends and Palestinians return to their ancestral lands “in dignity, in peace and security.”
“Those who think the Palestinian people will accept a life of servitude, a life of apartheid, are the ones who are not being realistic,” he said. “Those who claim that peace is possible in our region without a just resolution for the question of Palestine are the ones who are not being realistic.”
The resolution demands Israel withdraw its forces, immediately halt all new settlement building and evacuate all settlers from the Palestinian territories.
The measure also calls for Israel to pay reparations to Palestinians for the damage caused by its occupation. It urges countries to take steps to prevent trade or investments that maintain Israel’s presence and implement sanctions, “including about settler violence.”
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield told reporters that the resolution has “a significant number of flaws,” saying it goes beyond the ICJ ruling and doesn’t recognize both that “Hamas is a terrorist organization” in control of Gaza and that Israel has a right to defend itself.
“In our view, the resolution does not bring about tangible benefits across the board for the Palestinian people,” she said. “I think it could complicate the situation on the ground, complicate what we’re trying to do to end the conflict, and I think it impedes reinvigorating steps toward a two-state solution.”
Mansour told reporters this week that over 60 countries have asked to speak ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
He said an initial Palestinian draft demanded Israel end its occupation within six months but that it was revised in response to concerns of some countries to increase the time frame to within a year.
He said the focus of the resolution is putting into place the International Court of Justice’s ruling, which is also not legally binding.
“The idea is, you want to use the pressure of the international community in the GA, and the pressure of the historic ruling by the ICJ to force Israel to change its behavior in the direction of accepting to withdraw from the occupied territory,” Mansour said.
Most likely, he said, Israel won’t pay attention to the resolution and the Palestinians will then submit another one.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state. The international community generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory.
