UNITED NATIONS (Dispatches) – The United Nations General Assembly will adopt a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands the Zionist regime end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.
The action will further isolate the regime days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual U.N. gathering. Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to address the 193-member General Assembly on Sept. 26, the same day as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The draft resolution aims to welcome a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that said the regime’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn.
The advisory opinion - by the highest United Nations court also known as the World Court - said this should be done “as rapidly as possible,” although the draft General Assembly resolution allows for a 12-month timeline.
The draft resolution is 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.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged countries to vote no. Washington - an ally of the Zionist regime - has long opposed unilateral measures that undermine the prospect of a solution.
The ICJ advisory opinion is not binding but carries weight under international law and may weaken support for the Zionist regime. A General Assembly resolution also is not binding, but carries political weight. There is no veto power in the assembly.
“Each country has a vote, and the world is watching us,” Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly on Tuesday. “Please stand on the right side of history. With international law. With freedom. With peace.”
The Zionist regime captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Al-Quds - areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state - in the 1967 Middle East war and has since built settlements in the West Bank and steadily expanded them.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, the Zionist regime’s military has leveled swaths of the Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.