UN General Assembly adopts resolution supporting two-state solution
The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a resolution reviving a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, less than 24 hours after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would never be a Palestinian state.
The New York Declaration, which outlines tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps towards a two-state solution, was adopted on Friday by 142 votes in favour, 10 against – including Israel and key ally the United States – and 12 abstentions.
Presented by France and Saudi Arabia, the seven-page document calls for collective action to end the war in Gaza, to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the effective implementation of the Two-State solution.
It also orders Palestinian group Hamas, which runs the government in Gaza, to free all hostages, stipulating that it must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority … in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State.
The UN’s ringing endorsement of the two-state solution came amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, one day after Netanyahu signed off on a settlement expansion plan in the occupied West Bank that would make any future Palestinian state virtually impossible.
As the UN voted on Friday to advance the two-state solution, people in the Gaza Strip continued to endure heavy artillery fire and bombing from Israeli forces, with Friday’s death toll hitting 59 just after the results were announced.
The Israeli army said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City this week as part of its takeover plan, targeting more than 500 sites. It said it would continue to intensify the pace of strikes in a focused manner … with the aim of hitting Hamas’ infrastructure.
