Israel: According to the news agency Reuters, Israel condemned and Palestinians applauded a United Nations General Assembly resolution on Saturday asking the International Court of Justice to deliver an opinion on the legal repercussions of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.
The Palestinians applauded the UN vote, in which 87 nations voted in favour of adopting the request, while Israel, the US, and 24 other members voted against it and 53 abstained. The decision on Friday offers a challenge to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who assumed office this week as leader of a cabinet that prioritises settlement construction.
“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land nor occupiers in our eternal capital Jerusalem and no UN resolution can distort that historical truth,” Netanyahu said in a video message, according to Reuters. He went on to say that Israel was not bound by the “despicable decision.”
UNGA asks for ICJ’s stance on Israel’s occupation of Palestine
The United Nations General Assembly requested an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal implications of Israel’s “occupation, settlement, and annexation… including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character, and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem.” The Palestinians want a state in the occupied West Bank, as well as Gaza and East Jerusalem. Most countries consider Israel’s settlements there to be illegal, although Israel disputes this, citing historical and Biblical ties to the territory.
Members of Netanyahu’s incoming cabinet have promised to strengthen settlements with development plans, funding, and the approval of dozens of illegal outposts. The cabinet comprises newly established positions and reconfigured functions that give some of those powers to pro-settler coalition members seeking to extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, has shown no indication of any impending plans to annex the settlements, a move that would undoubtedly sour relations with both Western and Arab allies.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about Israel
“The time has come for Israel to be a state subject to law, and to be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against our people,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh was reported as saying by Reuters. In the West Bank, his Palestinian Authority has little autonomy.
According to Basem Naim, a Hamas official, it is “an important step toward confining and isolating the state of occupation (Israel).”
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