UN member states on Tuesday debated a Palestinian draft resolution to end Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months, a text whose likely approval has already provoked the ire of Israel.
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In July, in response to a General Assembly inquiry on the Israeli occupation since 1967, The International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that “Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful” and noted that Israel “has an obligation to put an end to this situation as soon as possible.”
Based on this recommendation, the Arab countries have called for a new special session to be held just days before the arrival in New York of dozens of heads of state and government for the UN General Assembly, during which the war in Gaza will be a dominant topic.
“The idea is to use the pressure of the international community in the General Assembly and the pressure of the historic decision of the ICJ to force Israel to change its attitude,” said the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, noting that the text presented, more concrete than the previous ones, “shocked many countries.”
The draft resolution, which is expected to be put to a vote on Wednesday, “demands” Israel “without delay put an end to its illegal presence” in the Palestinian territories and sets a deadline of “maximum twelve months” for this, after the adoption of the resolution. The first project only allowed for six months.
Israel flatly rejected the resolution on Tuesday.
“We are gathered here to watch the Palestinian circus at the UN, a circus in which evil is right, war is peace, murder is justified,” said Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon.
“How dare they continue this tradition of passing unilateral resolutions against Israel,” he said.
‘Safe in their homes’
The draft resolution also “demands” the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian territories, the cessation of new settlements, the restitution of confiscated land and property and the possibility of return for displaced Palestinians.
On the other hand, The paragraph calling on member states to stop arms exports to Israel was dropped from the draft during negotiations.
“Palestinians want to live, not survive. They want to be safe in their homes,” Mansour said Tuesday, opening the debate on the first resolution submitted by the Palestinians.
“How many more Palestinians have to die before there is finally change that will end this inhumanity?” he asked.
The ICJ’s ruling was “a historic ruling, as it was the first time the court examined the Israeli occupation as a whole,” Mansour said.
While the Security Council is largely paralyzed on the issue due to the repeated use by the United States of its veto right to protect its Israeli ally, the General Assembly has repeatedly approved texts since October in support of the Palestinians.
The war broke out on October 7 with an attack by the Islamist movement Hamas in southern Israel, which killed 1,205 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Islamist commandos kidnapped 251 people that day, of whom 97 are still held in Gaza, and of which 33 have been declared dead by the Israeli army.
In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas since 2007, which has left at least 41,252 dead, according to the local Ministry of Health.
“We fight because we have no other choice, but despite the cruelty we have faced, despite the unprecedented terror unleashed on our people, this assembly remains silent,” Danon insisted at the assembly meeting.
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