New York: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Friday approved a resolution that asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to judge and opine upon the legal status of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories as per the international law.
The Palestine leadership has hailed the latest UN Resolution. Israel on the other hand slammed the resolution calling it a "moral stain" on the multilateral body.
The Hague-based International Court of Justice ICJ is the top UN court dealing with disputes between countries. Its rulings are binding though it has no power to enforce them.
The General Assembly voted 87 to 26 with 53 abstentions on the resolution with virtually unanimous support in the Islamic world – including among Arab states that have normalised relations with Israel.
Western nations were split but Russia, China, Iran, Ireland, Poland and Portugal voted in favour of the resolution.
Israel, the US and 24 other members – including the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany and Italy – voted against the resolution, while India, France, South Korea and Spain were among the 53 nations that abstained.
The UN resolution titled "Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories" called on the World Court to render urgently an advisory opinion on Israel’s prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory.
The UNGA in its resolution also called for an investigation into Israeli measures "aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem", saying Israel has adopted "discriminatory legislation and measures".
The Palestinian leadership has hailed the resolution saying it “reflects the victory of Palestinian diplomacy”.
“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,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said.
"This vote comes one day after the new Israeli government was formed pledging to accelerate colonial and racist policies against the Palestinian people," Mansour told the General Assembly.
The Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan slammed the resolution calling it a "moral stain" on the multilateral body.
"No international body can decide that the Jewish people are ‘occupiers’ in their own homeland. Any decision from a judicial body which receives its mandate from the morally bankrupt and politicised UN is completely illegitimate," Erdan said in a statement released Friday.
The UN resolution was passed on the day Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power as Israel's Prime Minister and to lead what is billed as "the most rightist government in Israel's history".
Even as thousands rallyed and protested outside the Parliament building, the Netanyahu led government vowed ahead of its inauguration to expand settlements in the West Bank, implement far-reaching reforms of the judicial system, allocate massive subsidies to its hardline religious allies and pass anti-LGBTQ legislation.
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