UN General Assembly demands Israel end ‘unlawful presence’ in Occupied Palestinian Territory

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154496

Yesterday the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding Israel end ‘unlawful presence’ in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

UN General Assembly demands Israel end ‘unlawful presence’ in Occupied Palestinian Territory, UN News, Sept 18, 2024

The resolution is in response to a ruling by the top United Nations court in July that said Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end. The court’s opinion also is not legally binding.

The World’s Chance To Confront US-Israeli Genocide

If Israel predictably fails to heed a General Assembly resolution calling on it to withdraw its occupation forces and settlers from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the United States then vetoes or threatens to veto a Security Council resolution to enforce the ICJ ruling, then the General Assembly could go a step further.

It could convene an emergency session to take up what is called a Uniting For Peace resolution, which could call for an arms embargo, an economic boycott or other sanctions against Israel — or even call for actions against the United States.

Uniting for Peace resolutions have only been passed by the General Assembly five times since the procedure was first adopted in 1950.

The Sept. 18 resolution comes in response to an historic ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 19, which found that “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law.”

The court ruled that Israel’s obligations under international law include “the evacuation of all settlers from existing settlements” and the payment of restitution to all who have been harmed by its illegal occupation.

The passage of the General Assembly resolution by a large majority of members would demonstrate that countries all over the world support the ICJ ruling, and would be a small but important first step toward ensuring that Israel must live up to those obligations.

The World’s Chance To Confront US-Israeli Genocide by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, Consortium News, September 18, 2024