The United Nations General Assembly endorsed unanimously Wednesday a
resolution that acknowledges the Palestinian people’s permanent
sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) including
the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
164 UN member states voted for the resolution, 6 rejected it, and 9 others abstained including Canada, Cameroun, Cote D'Ivoire and Uganda.
This year's resolution gained 8 more votes than similar resolutions 2005 and 2004. The resolution is based on the UN Security Council’s resolutions 242 of 1967, 465 of 1980, 497 of 1981, the United Nations’ Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of the Unarmed Civilians in Times of War, and other relevant human rights conventions.
The General Assembly also expressed concern over exploitation by the Israeli Occupation Authority, referred to as the ‘occupying power’, of Palestinian natural resources of the OPT, including destruction of farm lands, uprooting trees, and destruction of Palestinian infrastructure.
The UN body also emphasized the need to swiftly resume the Middle East peace process on the basis of the UN Security Council’s resolutions and the Road Map peace plan, leading to a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel and a final compromise with other parties in the conflict including Syria and Lebanon.
International opinion expressed through the United Nations considers the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem to be Occupied Palestinian Territories, from which Israel must withdraw immediately. Since 1967, Israel has imposed strict military control over these territories, and it has recently expanded settlements in the West Bank, built a wall separating Palestinian towns from each other, and continues to impose a complete siege on the Gaza Strip, despite its unilateral "disengagement" in 2005.
