The international body demands 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 territories within a year, a decision that Palestine has hailed as “historic.”
The non-binding measure was adopted on Wednesday by a vote of 124 to 14, with 43 abstentions.
The United Nations General Assembly demanded that Israel immediately end its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a continuing illegal act for which it is internationally responsible, and no later than 12 months.
She also called on Israel to repair the damage caused to Palestinians by the occupation.
The United Nations General Assembly, whose mission includes promoting “respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” includes all of the world’s sovereign countries, so Wednesday’s vote underscores the depth of international opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The resolution supports 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, stressing that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were illegal.
The UN General Assembly vote comes as Israel’s devastating war on Gaza has left more than 41,250 Palestinians dead. The ICJ has issued rulings ordering Israel to take measures to prevent genocide in Gaza and allow adequate humanitarian aid to enter the territory.
The United States, which claims to seek a two-state solution to the conflict, joined Israel in opposing the UN General Assembly resolution on Wednesday – as did the Czech Republic, Hungary, Argentina and several small Pacific island states.
The resolution was presented by Palestine, a permanent observer state to the UN.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the resolution and urged countries around the world to take steps to pressure Israel to adhere to it.
“The international consensus around this resolution renews the hopes of our Palestinian people – who are facing aggression and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem – to realize their aspirations for freedom and independence and to establish 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 and later annexed the entire holy city in 1980.
International law prohibits the acquisition of land by force.
Israel has also built settlements – now home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis – in the West Bank, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying power from transferring “parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
Most of the international community considers the occupation illegal.
But the United States maintains that the Palestinians and Israelis should negotiate a resolution to these issues without outside pressure – a standard that Washington does not apply to other conflicts, including Russia’s occupation of parts of Ukraine.
Several U.S. allies, including France, Finland and Mexico, voted in favor of the resolution adopted Wednesday. The United Kingdom, Ukraine and Canada abstained.
The Palestinian rights group Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East denounced the abstention, calling it “a cowardly refusal to defend international law and Palestinian freedom.”
“All states have an obligation to help end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories as soon as possible, but Canada has simply abstained,” the group said in a social media post.