The United Nations General Assembly will on Wednesday adopt a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.
The action will isolate Israel days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual UN gathering. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the 193-member General Assembly on September 26, the same day as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The draft resolution aims to welcome a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn.
The advisory opinion – by the highest United Nations court, also known as the World Court – said this should be done “as rapidly as possible.” However, the draft of the General Assembly resolution allows for a 12-month timeline.
The draft resolution is the first to be formally submitted by the Palestinian Authority since it gained additional rights and privileges this month, including a seat among UN members in the assembly hall and the right to propose draft resolutions.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged countries to vote no on Wednesday. Washington – an ally of Israel – has long opposed unilateral measures that undermine the prospect of a two-state solution.
UN General Assembly faces criticism
The ICJ advisory opinion is not binding but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for Israel. A General Assembly resolution is also not binding but carries political weight. The assembly has no veto power.
“Each country has a vote, and the world is watching us,” Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly on Tuesday. “Please stand on the right side of history. With international law. With freedom. With peace.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon criticized the General Assembly on Tuesday for failing to condemn the October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas terrorists that sparked Israel’s assault on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
He rejected the draft Palestinian text, saying: “Let’s call this for what it is: this resolution is diplomatic terrorism, using the tools of diplomacy not to build bridges but to destroy them.”
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine that the Palestinians want for a state – in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry stated on Tuesday that the death toll in Gaza has reached 41,252 since the war started on October 7 of last year. A further 95,497 have thus far been wounded in the conflict, the Gazan ministry added.
The number has not been independently verified, and the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its toll. The Hamas-run ministry has also been repeatedly criticized for distorting casualty figures.
In May, departing from Hamas’s reported figures, the UN halved the number of women and children it had previously reported had been killed thus far in the war.
The General Assembly on October 27 called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza, with 120 votes in favor. Then, in December, 153 countries voted to demand—instead of calling for—an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
A two-thirds majority of those present and voting – abstentions don’t count – is needed to pass the draft resolution on Wednesday. Mansour told reporters on Monday that while he expected the draft text to be adopted, it would likely be with less support than received by the resolutions last year.
The Palestinian Authority represents the Palestinian people at the UN, an observer state; the delegation is known as the State of Palestine.
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