UN General Assembly widely supports Palestinian resolution

The UN General Assembly strongly supported a nonbinding Palestinian resolution Wednesday (September 18, 2024) demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 124-14. Among those in opposition was the US, Israel’s closest ally. India was among the 43 abstentions.

The resolution was adopted as Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza approaches its first anniversary and as violence in the West Bank reaches new highs.

Troubled efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza are pressing ahead, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting fellow mediators Wednesday in Egypt, even as attacks elsewhere in the region raise fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, called the vote a turning point “in our struggle for freedom and justice.” “It sends a clear message that Israel’s occupation must end as soon as possible and that the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination must be realized,” he said.