UN Members Vote to Demand Israel End Occupation
of Palestinian Territories Within 12 Months
Christian Edwards / CNN
(September 19, 2024) — United Nations members voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to demand that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months.
The resolution was adopted in the UN General Assembly after receiving 124 votes in favor. Fourteen countries voted against, including the United States, Hungary, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Fiji, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and Tuvalu. Forty-three nations abstained from the vote.
The vote comes after the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice, said in July that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal and called on Israel to end its decades-long occupation of territories claimed by Palestinians for a future state.
In its advisory opinion, the ICJ said Israel should end its occupation “as rapidly as possible.” The UN’s resolution gives a 12-month timeline.
Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the UN, called the vote a turning point “in our struggle for freedom and justice.”
The resolution was put forward by observer state Palestine, which was granted new privileges – including the right to submit proposals in the assembly – in May.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, meanwhile slammed the vote outcome as “a a shameful decision that backs the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic terrorism.”
Neither the ICJ advisory opinion nor the assembly resolution are binding, however the two decisions could further isolate Israel as world leaders prepare to meet next week in New York for the annual UN General Assembly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are expected to address other world leaders at the UN on September 26.
Monitoring group Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed Wednesday’s resolution.
“Israel should immediately heed the demand of an overwhelming majority of UN member states to abide by the World Court’s historic ruling on Israel’s decades-long occupation,” Louis Charbonneau, UN director at HRW, said in a statement.
Amnesty International also welcomed the resolution and called on Israel to abide by it.
“This resolution vindicates long-standing calls from the Palestinian people and many countries around the world, by pursuing the implementation of the ICJ’s historic advisory opinion which confirmed Israel has a legal obligation to end its unlawful occupation of the OPT and its systemic discrimination against the occupied Palestinian population,” said Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard said.
During the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan heights from neighboring Arab states. Soon after, it began establishing Jewish settlements in these territories.
The Palestinians want the West Bank and Gaza for a future state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel considers the entirety of Jerusalem as its “eternal capital.”
UN Votes 124-14 to Strip Israel of
Right to Self-defense in Gaza, West Bank
Tovah Lazaroff / The Jerusalem Times
(September 19, 2024) — The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted 124-14 to strip Israel of the right to self-defense against Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem.
The text of the resolution was based on the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion in July that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory was illegal.
Prior to the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he supported the ICJ option and would abide by the vote, which calls on the IDF to withdraw to the pre-1967 lines within 12 months.
The resolution also calls on member states not to sell arms or military equipment to Israel that would be used in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem. It calls for a boycott of all Israeli products produced over the pre-1967 lines.
The resolution has declaratory power only but provides international backing to those countries that want to take additional steps against Israel.
No Mention of the Hostages
The text does not mention Hamas, the October 7 invasion of Israel, or the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza. It makes no requirements of Hamas or the Palestinians with regard to attacks on Israel.
The resolution was opposed by Argentina, the Czech Republic, Fiji, Hungary, Israel, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the United States.
Among the 43 countries that abstained were Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and European Union countries Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden.
New Zealand supported the resolution as did 13 EU nations: Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain.
Canadian Ambassador to the UN Bob Rae blasted the resolution, despite his country’s abstention and even though he said his government respected the role of the ICJ and agreed with a number of tenets of the document, including an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.
“Canada cannot support a resolution where one party, the State of Israel, is held solely responsible for the conflict,” Rae said.
“There is no mention in the resolution of the need to end terrorism, for which Israel has serious and legitimate security concerns,” he said.
“Canada is concerned that this resolution contains language that aligns with [the] Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [movement], which Canada firmly opposes. This effort seeks to uniquely isolate Israel,” Rae said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the resolution was “disconnected from reality, encourages terrorism, and harms the chances for peace” by ignoring Israel’s real security concerns, particularly in the aftermath of the Hamas October 7 attack. This resolution “is what being disconnected looks like; this is what cynical international politics looks like.”
It strengthens the “Hamas terrorist organization and the Iranian terrorist state that stands behind it,” the Foreign Ministry said. “The resolution sends a message that terrorism pays off and yields international resolutions. The decision only encourages Hamas’s rejectionism with regards to the deal for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire and further distances the possibility of reaching such a deal.”
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “Instead of marking the anniversary of the October 7 massacre by condemning Hamas and calling for the release of the remaining 101 hostages, the General Assembly continues to dance to the music of the Palestinian Authority, which backs the Hamas murderers.”
New Zealand Ambassador to the UN Carolyn Schwalger said her country had supported the resolution, even though it considered that it was not possible for Israel to adhere to it.
“The 12-month time frame set out in the resolution for Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territory is frankly unrealistic,” she said. “A two-state solution needs to be the product of negotiation. Aspirations need to be tempered by realism, given the complexities to be addressed.”
“However, in the next 12 months we expect Israel to take meaningful steps towards compliance with international law, particularly through withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territory,” Schwalger said.
“We also expect the PA to take meaningful steps to assume political and security control of the occupied territory,” she added.
The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the decision, which PA envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour called historic on Tuesday when the UN began deliberating the resolution.
Abbas, in a statement posted on WAFA, the Palestine News and Information Agency, called on UN member states to take individual and collective action to implement the resolution.
On Tuesday, prior to the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the plenum that the resolution “refuses to address the reality that Israel, a United Nations member state, simply has a right to protect and defend its people from acts of terror and violence.”
“Despite the fact that Hamas just upended ceasefire negotiations by brutally murdering six hostages, and despite the fact that Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields in Gaza, this resolution does not include any measures to pressure Hamas to heed Security Council Resolution 2735, accept the deal on the table, and implement it without delay or further conditions,” she said.
Likud MK Dan Illouz responded to the vote in a post on X, saying, “The UN has become a direct threat to the free world, sending a dangerous message: that a free nation has no right to defend itself against bloodthirsty, immoral terrorists. Instead of condemning Hamas for the barbaric slaughter of over 1,200 innocent civilians, the UN shamefully targets Israel – the only democracy in the region standing for human rights.”
“Even worse, an institution founded after the Holocaust to prevent such atrocities now shields a new attempt at genocide led by Iran through its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis,” he continued. ” In this theater of the absurd, the UN dares to accuse Israel of violating international law – when Israel is the only nation in the region both upholding and enforcing it, even in war. Israel is the moral compass, defending its people while adhering to the highest standards of law and justice.”
“Make no mistake: this isn’t just Israel’s war. It’s the war for the right of the entire free world to defend itself against terror and evil. Don’t be fooled – Israel may be on the front lines, but you are all in the crosshairs, too. This fight is for the very survival of freedom, decency, and life itself,” the post concluded.
ICJ Takes Up Israel’s ‘Occupation’ Of Palestine
2023 UN Vote Shows Global Allegiances
