UN General Assembly backs two-state push for Israel and Palestine

Israel slams landmark vote, supported by 142 subordinate states, arsenic ‘disgraceful’ arsenic it continues to lb Gaza.

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a solution reviving a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, little than 24 hours aft Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said determination would never beryllium a Palestinian state.

The “New York Declaration”, which outlines “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” towards a two-state solution, was adopted connected Friday by 142 votes successful favour, 10 against – including Israel and cardinal state the United States – and 12 abstentions.

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Presented by France and Saudi Arabia, the seven-page papers calls for “collective enactment to extremity the warfare successful Gaza, to execute a just, peaceful and lasting colony of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle based connected the effectual implementation of the Two-State solution”.

It besides orders Palestinian radical Hamas, which runs the authorities successful Gaza, to “free each hostages”, stipulating that it indispensable “end its regularisation successful Gaza and manus implicit its weapons to the Palestinian Authority … successful enactment with the nonsubjective of a sovereign and autarkic Palestinian State”.

Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Saudi-French efforts to make an “actionable plan” towards a two-state solution. The ministry besides called for “activating each mechanisms to extremity the Israeli assemblage occupation” and “achieve the morganatic rights of the Palestinian people”.

Attempt to ‘take dialog process forward’

The UN’s ringing endorsement of the two-state solution came amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, 1 time aft Netanyahu signed disconnected connected a colony enlargement program successful the occupied West Bank that would marque immoderate aboriginal Palestinian authorities virtually impossible.

Reporting from New York, Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey said that the ballot showed “an unthinkable magnitude of pushback from the planetary community”.

“This shows mounting interest implicit a deficiency of advancement connected … talks, and an effort by the planetary assemblage to instrumentality the dialog process forward,” she said.

The ballot precedes an upcoming UN acme co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris connected September 22 successful New York, successful which French President Emmanuel Macron and respective different leaders person promised to formally recognise the Palestinian state.

While 146 members of the UN already backmost a Palestinian state, different 10 oregon so, including France, Norway, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom are expected to articulation their ranks aboriginal this month.

“Crucially, European nations who person been much reluctant to bash truthful nether the unit of the United States and Israel, [are] showing the concerns that the concern connected the crushed determination is becoming each the much dire, nary advancement is being made,” said Al Jazeera’s Saloomey.

Israel derailing bid efforts

Israel rejected the declaration aft the landmark vote, slamming it arsenic “disgraceful”.

The ballot has “proven however overmuch the General Assembly is simply a governmental circus detached from reality”, said Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein successful a station connected X, criticising the solution for not calling Hamas a “terrorist organisation”.

The ballot took spot successful a week successful which Israel has been connected peculiarly bellicose form, dialling up regional tensions with a fig of deadly strikes crossed the Middle East, targeting Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia and Qatar successful parallel with its attacks connected Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

On Thursday, UN Security Council members condemned Israel for its onslaught connected pb mediator Qatar, which killed 5 members of Hamas successful Doha, who were discussing a caller woody projected by US President Donald Trump.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who had flown successful for the UNSC exigency session, had blasted Israel’s leaders arsenic “arrogant”, adding that the timing of the attacks during mediation efforts showed that the state intended to derail them.

As the UN voted connected Friday to beforehand the two-state solution, people successful the Gaza Strip continued to endure dense artillery occurrence and bombing from Israeli forces, with Friday’s decease toll hitting 59 conscionable aft the results were announced.

The Israeli service said it had completed 5 waves of aerial strikes connected Gaza City this week arsenic portion of its takeover plan, targeting much than 500 sites. It said it would “continue to intensify the gait of strikes successful a focused mode … with the purpose of hitting Hamas’ infrastructure”.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies