U.N. Adopts Resolution Demanding Israel Urgently End Occupation Of Palestinian Land

The resolution supported by most of the General Assembly calls for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem within the next 12 months.

The United Nations overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Wednesday demanding that Israel urgently end its illegal occupation of Palestinian land, a vote that comes just weeks before Israel’s military offensive that has caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza reaches one year.

Out of the U.N. General Assembly’s 193 member states, 124 of them voted in favor of the resolution presented by the Palestinian mission to the world body. Fourteen states voted against the resolution ― including Israel’s closest ally and primary weapons supplier, the United States ― while 43 states abstained. There are no vetoes in the General Assembly, unlike the 15-member Security Council.

“Please stand on the right side of history, with international law, with freedom, with peace,” Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour, who introduced the resolution, told the body on Tuesday. “The alternative is what you witness every day on your TV screens. And what the Palestinian people are enduring in their flesh. A different reality is possible. It starts now, and here. Free Palestine.”

The nonbinding resolution demands that Israel “brings an end without delay its unlawful presence” of occupied Palestinian territories like Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Israeli government must end its illegal occupation by withdrawing all of its forces and evacuating its settlers from Palestinian land within the next 12 months, according to the draft.

In addition, the resolution calls for Israel to pay reparations to Palestinians for damage accrued by its occupation, and urges member states to impose sanctions on those responsible for maintaining Israel’s presence in the territories, and halt weapons transfers to Israel.