Most countries have backed a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that sets a deadline for Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, amid growing international criticism of Israel.
The resolution, adopted Wednesday, is not legally binding. But it contains harsh criticism of Israel and has received support from many Western countries that have traditionally backed Israel.
It was the first time in UN history that Palestine had submitted its own draft resolution for a vote in the 193-member General Assembly, thanks to the enhanced rights and privileges it enjoyed – again as an observer state – following a resolution adopted in May.
What does the resolution say?
The resolution demands that Israel immediately end its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes an illegal act of a continuing nature for which it is internationally responsible, and no later than 12 months.
The resolution calls on Israel to comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all further settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied lands and dismantle parts of the separation wall it has built inside the occupied West Bank.
It stipulates that Israel must return land and other “immovable property” as well as all property seized since the beginning of the occupation in 1967 and all cultural property and assets confiscated from Palestinians and Palestinian institutions.
The resolution also demands that Israel allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their places of origin and repair the damage caused by its occupation.
What does the ICJ decision say?
The UN General Assembly document draws on an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July, which declared the occupation illegal and said all states are obliged not to “render aid or assistance in maintaining it.”
The world’s highest court ruled that Israel is “abusing its status as an occupying power” by building and expanding settlements, using the region’s natural resources, annexing and imposing permanent controls on land and undermining the Palestinian right to self-determination.
The Court issued this opinion after being requested in 2022 by the General Assembly and while the UN and the vast majority of the international community consider the Palestinian territory to be occupied by Israel.
Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the six-day Arab-Israeli War in 1967.
It was forced to withdraw from Gaza under international pressure in 2005, but maintained a land, sea and air blockade on the enclave.
What do the votes show?
The resolution was approved by 124 UN member states, with 43 abstentions and 14 rejections.
Against: Among the countries opposing it are Israel and its main ally, the United States. Argentina, which recognized the Palestinian state in 2010, changed its position under President Javier Milei and has become one of Israel’s strongest diplomatic supporters. It also opposed the resolution. Paraguay was the only other country in the Americas to vote against the resolution.
Hungary and the Czech Republic were the only European countries to vote “no”, joined by Malawi in Africa and several Pacific island countries.
For: France, Spain, Finland and Portugal were the main European countries to vote in favour of the project. Other European countries that gave their support included Japan, China, Russia and Brazil. Overall, almost all of Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America voted yes.
Abstentions: India’s decision to abstain means it is breaking with the rest of the BRICS group of major countries in the Global South, and with all of South Asia except Nepal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu counts his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, among his close friends. Under Modi – who in 2017 became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel – ties between the two countries have strengthened considerably, while New Delhi has gradually moved away from its traditional, staunch support for Palestine.
Since the start of the war on Gaza, Israel’s Western allies have mostly abstained or voted against UN resolutions aimed at protecting Palestinians or holding Israel to account. Even watered-down resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council have not been implemented.
Wednesday’s vote also saw far more abstentions than some previous votes, including the Gaza ceasefire vote at the General Assembly in December.
Does Israel’s ‘Right to Self-Defense’ Extend to Occupation?
All sovereign nations have the right to defend themselves against attack, an argument that Israel’s allies have consistently used to justify the massacre of tens of thousands of people in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank since Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7.
The United States, along with its allies who abstained from Wednesday’s vote – including Australia, Canada, Germany and Ukraine – said they could not vote in favor of a resolution that did not specify Israel’s right to defend itself.
But they did not explain why the occupation was necessary for Israel to defend itself.
The US mission to the UN said it considered Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to be “incompatible with international law” and that Washington “respected” the role of the ICJ, but considered the document “a one-sided resolution that selectively interprets the content of the ICJ opinion, does not advance what we all want to see, namely progress towards two states, living in peace, side by side.”
Washington said the resolution advances a “false” idea that a text adopted in New York could resolve this complex conflict.
The resolution of the United Nations General Assembly adopted today clearly states that #Israel The occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory, which has lasted for 57 years and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, can no longer continue.
Israel must immediately comply with the resolution by withdrawing its forces… pic.twitter.com/22irvL0vsG
— Agnès Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) September 18, 2024
But UN special rapporteurs, a wide range of international law experts and a number of countries have said that Israel cannot claim to defend itself as an occupying power that is actively killing Palestinian civilians or depriving them of their basic needs.
The ICJ also ruled in a 2004 advisory opinion that Israel could not invoke the right of self-defense in occupied territory when the court was reviewing Israel’s construction of the separation wall in the West Bank for alleged security reasons.
Israel’s right to self-defense is a difficult issue that continues to divide, according to James Devaney, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow’s law school.
He explained that the ICJ has in the past insisted that the inherent right of states to self-defense under international law concerns defense against other states.
“While many states are in favour of a broader right that would also allow for self-defence by non-state actors, the question of Palestinian statehood is, of course, linked to these issues. As such, I would say that the question of self-defence is a difficult legal issue on which some states can legitimately disagree on the effects and which can also serve as a pretext for states to vote in a way that fits their political positions,” Devaney told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Will this change anything on the ground?
The non-binding resolution cannot be implemented and is therefore unlikely to change anything for Palestinians in the occupied territories in the near future, analysts said.
Devaney said that even though the General Assembly resolution sets a deadline by which Israel must leave the occupied Palestinian territory, that fact does not change the non-enforceable nature of the resolution.
“This 12-month period has political significance and may play a role in future political and procedural steps taken at the UN, but in my view it does not change anything in terms of the legal effect of the resolution or the advisory opinion,” he said.
Meanwhile, Palestinians continue to be killed, maimed or detained without charge in Gaza and the West Bank every day, and violence perpetrated by the Israeli military and settlers is sharply increasing.
Demolition reported today in Beit ‘Awwa, #HebronTHE #West Bankbusy #Palestinian territory. pic.twitter.com/G62v3kzEEA
— OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory (Palestine) (@ochaopt) September 19, 2024
Israeli forces have also been demolishing Palestinian structures – or forcing Palestinians to do so themselves for fear of fines and arrest – at a rapidly increasing rate since the start of the Gaza war.
According to the latest figures, at least 11,560 Palestinian structures have been demolished and 18,667 people have been displaced since the UN began recording such data in 2009. More than 1,250 structures were destroyed in 2024 alone.
