Israel Condemns UN Over Resolution
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW YORK JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel has condemned an adopted United Nations resolution demanding that all Israeli forces and civilians pull out of Palestinian areas within a year. The resolution also called for an embargo on arms that Israel might use in those areas.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry described the move as“cynical international politics” that would encourage “terrorism and harm the chances for peace.”
The resolution, accepted by the United Nations General Assembly in New York, called for Israel to “end without delay its unlawful presence” in “Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months, including all soldiers and civilians.
The resolution also welcomed a July ruling by the International Court of Justice that said Israel’s control of Palestinian territories and settlements is “illegal” and should be withdrawn.
The advisory by the highest United Nations court, also known as the World Court, said this should be done “as rapidly as possible.” At the same time, the General Assembly resolution imposed a 12-month deadline.
The U.N. called on states to “take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel… where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
However, “The Palestinian-led UN resolution, which calls for unilateral moves against Israel, will not end the conflict, but will embolden an already RADICALIZED Palestinian Authority,” the Israeli ministry added on social media platform X. “Peace can and will only be achieved through direct negotiations and the de-radicalization of the PA.”
FIRST MOVE
Wednesday’s resolution was one of the first moves by the Palestinian Authority (PA) since it gained a seat in the U.N. assembly and the right to initiate resolutions.
The PA is based in the West Bank and claims to represent all Palestinians in the United Nations.
Some 124 countries supported the measure, 14 opposed it, and 43 abstained. Israel, the United States, the Czech Republic, Argentina, and Pacific island nations were among those opposing the move. Paraguay and Malawi were also voting against the measure.
Israel captured the West Bank, also known by its Biblical names Judaea and Samaria, as well as the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries, mainly Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.
Israel maintains it needs several of those areas to prevent a similar war in the future.
Wednesday’s United Nations resolution came days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual U.N. gathering. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to address the 193-member General Assembly on September 26, the same day that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will also do so.
The resolution was adopted as Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza approaches its first anniversary and as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs. Troubled efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza are pressing ahead, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting fellow mediators Wednesday in Egypt, even as attacks elsewhere in the region raise fears of a broader regional war in the Middle East.
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