UN Votes Next Week on Resolution on Israeli Occupation

Next week, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly is going to vote on a Palestinian draft resolution asking the International Court of Justice to issue a legal opinion outlining the legal consequences arising from Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories and its violation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.

Yesterday, Monday, the United Nations General Assembly began discussing a Palestinian request regarding Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, before transferring it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to issue a legal opinion on the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The draft resolution was approved by the Fourth Committee of the United Nations in early November, and it requests the International Court of Justice to express its opinion urgently on Israel’s long-term occupation, settlement, and annexation of Palestinian lands, and the violation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. The draft resolution was supported by 98 countries, and 17 others opposed it. , while 52 countries abstained from voting.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said, "The Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which is the committee on political issues and decolonization, adopted a draft resolution submitted by Palestine to request a legal advisory opinion, and an advisory opinion from the highest international judicial body, from the International Court of Justice, on the nature of the existence of the occupation." Israeli colonialism in the land of the State of Palestine, including Jerusalem.