UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and West Bank in 6 months.
Palestinians are seeking approval of a draft U.N. resolution that demands an end to Israel’s “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the West Bank within six months. The proposed General Assembly resolution obtained by The Associated Press comes after a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
In a broad censure of Israel’s rule over the land it captured 57 years ago, the International Court of Justice said today that Israel had no right to sovereignty over the territories and was in violation of international statutes against acquiring lands by force. The court further said Israeli settlement building must cease.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, attacked the resolution as a “reward for terror.” He called for the resolution to be rejected. “Let it be clear: Nothing will deter Israel, and nothing will stop it from its goal to bring the hostages home and eliminate Hamas,” he said.
Decisions of the International Court of Justice “should be accepted and implemented,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, adding that the resolution in the General Assembly is for the 193 UN member states to decide.
This draft U.N. resolution comes as Israel’s military assault on Gaza enters into its 11th month in response to the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, while violence in the West Bank reaches new highs.
If passed by the 193-member General Assembly, the resolution would not be legally binding, but the level of support would be an important reflection of world opinion. Unlike in the 15-member Security Council, the assembly has no vetoes.
A council diplomat said the Palestinians seek a vote before the General Assembly’s world leaders start their annual high-level meetings on September 22. The diplomat spoke anonymously because discussions on the draft resolution were private.
The proposal demands Israel comply with international law, including immediately withdrawing all military forces from the Palestinian territories. The draft resolution calls not only for an end to all new settlement activity but for the evacuation of all settlers and for the disassembling of the separation barrier Israel built in the West Bank.
It also calls on all Palestinians who were displaced during Israel’s occupation to be allowed “to return to their original place of residence” and for Israel to make reparations “for the damage caused” to all people in the territories.
Israel views the West Bank as “disputed,” its fate to be determined in negotiations, but planted settlers there as a way to consolidate control. Israel annexed East Jerusalem, a move not recognized by the international community. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but after Hamas came to power in 2007, Israel kept up the blockade on the territory.
The Health Ministry in Gaza puts the number of people killed there at over 40,900 since the October 7 Hamas attacks. It does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. Large swaths of the crowded territory have been destroyed, displacing around 90 percent of its 2.3 million population, often multiple times.
Meanwhile, settler violence in the West Bank reaches new highs, and Israeli military raids on West Bank cities and towns have been more destructive, killing 692 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Attacks by Palestinian militants against Israelis inside the territory have increased so far.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state. The international community generally considers all three areas to be occupied territory.
In September, Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council he would propose a General Assembly resolution to enshrine the ICJ ruling. “We are sick and tired of waiting,” he said. The time for waiting is over.”
Besides that, the resolution now wants Israel taken before the International Court of Justice for any infringement of international law and for countries to impose sanctions on parties responsible for maintaining Israel’s presence in the territories, and call on countries to stop arms export to Israel if they are suspected of being used in the territories.
