UN General Assembly demands Israeli pullout from Palestinian areas within 12 months
Resolution put forward by Palestinians urges embargo on arms that might be used in territories; Foreign Ministry says ‘cynical’ motion harms peace, encourages terror
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Wednesday demanding that Israel entirely pull out of Palestinian areas within a year, and called for an embargo on arms that Israel might use in those areas.
The Foreign Ministry panned the decision as “cynical international politics” that would encourage terrorism and harm the chances for peace.
The resolution called for Israel to “end without delay its unlawful presence” in “Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months, including all soldiers and civilians.
The resolution 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Court of Justice that said Israel’s control of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn.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,” while the General Assembly resolution imposed a 12-month deadline.
The UN also 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.”
The resolution was sponsored by the “State of Palestine” and 29 other countries, mostly Muslim nations.
Some 124 countries supported the measure, 14 opposed it, and 43 abstained. Israel, the US, Czechia, and Argentina were the largest countries opposing, along with Pacific island nations. Paraguay and Malawi also opposed the measure.
Many European nations abstained, including Ukraine, the UK, Germany, and Italy, as did Canada and Australia.
The Foreign Ministry said it was “a distorted decision that is disconnected from reality, encourages terrorism, and harms the chances for peace.”
Israel charged that the resolution ignores October 7, when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and during which terrorists abducted 251 people who were taken as hostages to Gaza.
The resolution, the ministry said in a statement posted to X, strengthens Hamas and “the Iranian terrorist state that stands behind it,” while sending a message that “terrorism pays.” It also makes a hostage deal less likely, the ministry argued, referring to efforts via international mediators to reach a ceasefire in exchange for the release of captives.
“Israel will respond accordingly,” the statement threatened, but did not lay out exactly how it may retaliate against the Palestinian Authority for the move.
“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 ministry added on X. “Peace can and will only be achieved through direct negotiations and the de-radicalization of the PA.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz previously threatened to “break and dissolve” the PA if it went ahead with the UN move, his office told the Times of Israel last week. He also instructed the ministry to prepare a set of responses against the PA that will be calibrated to match the severity of the final resolution.
The resolution was the first to be formally put forward 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 arms supplier to Israel and a long-term ally — has long opposed unilateral measures that its says undermine the prospects of a two-state solution.
Countries debated the resolution on Tuesday.
The ICJ advisory opinion is not binding, but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for Israel. A General Assembly resolution also is not binding, but carries political weight. There is no veto power in the assembly.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt — all areas the Palestinians want for a state — in the 1967 Six Day War. It has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them. It had settlements in the Gaza Strip until removing them under the 2005 Disengagement, following which Hamas took control of the territory.
The General Assembly on October 27 last year called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. In December, 153 countries voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Israel has vowed to continue fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas’s rule over the territory is ended.
The Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank, represents the Palestinian people at the UN, where it is a non-member observer state and the delegation is known as the “State of Palestine.”
The UN resolution came days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual UN gathering. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the 193-member General Assembly on September 26, the same day that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will also do so.
