UN General Assembly resoundingly affirms Palestinian right to self-determination
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- UN General Assembly overwhelmingly affirms Palestinian right to self-determination.
- Resolution cites ICJ ruling deeming 'Israel’s' occupation illegal and calls for settlement evacuation.
- Highlights Palestinian rights to resources and gains strong international support amid ongoing conflict.
The United Nations General Assembly on Monday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, 164 member states voted in favor of the resolution.
Eight countries, including 'Israel' and the United States, opposed it, while nine abstained.
The resolution cites a July 2024 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice stating that 'Israel’s' continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal. It emphasizes the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and calls for the evacuation of 'Israeli' settlements in the occupied territories.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour welcomed the resolution and the strong international support behind it.
The UN decision comes two years after a devastating 'Israeli' military campaign on Gaza beginning October 8, 2023, which killed over 70,000 Palestinians and injured more than 171,000, most of them women and children. In the West Bank, 'Israeli' forces killed 1,096 Palestinians, injured approximately 11,000, and arrested over 21,000.
The resolution, titled “Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources,” received 156 votes in favor, eight against, and ten abstentions. It reaffirms the application of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and cites the ICJ’s July 2024 advisory opinion regarding 'Israel’s' practices in the occupied territories.
The text stresses the Palestinians’ inalienable rights to their natural resources, demands that 'Israel' cease exploiting them, and calls for compensation for such exploitation. It also highlights the environmental harm caused by settlement construction and the separation wall.
The resolution recalls UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which distinguishes between the territory of Israel and the occupied Palestinian lands. Ambassador Mansour expressed deep gratitude to member states for their overwhelming support and stressed the need to hold 'Israel' accountable for implementing the resolution.
This landmark UN vote comes amid ongoing conflict and occupation, reaffirming the international community’s stance on Palestinian rights and the illegality of Israel’s continued occupation.
