The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution to demand that Israel end its "unlawful presence" in Palestinian territories.
What's new: The 193-nation assembly voted 124-14, with 43 abstentions, in favor of the resolution on Wednesday. It urges Israel to withdraw its forces, remove all settlers and stop new settlement building in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. It also calls on Israel to pay reparations to Palestinians for damages caused by the occupation.
What's next: The United Nations resolution, adopted after two days of debate, sends a strong message that most nations within the global body want Israel to pull out from Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year, and for the nation to face sanctions and an arms embargo.
What's important: The assembly's resolutions aren't legally binding but reflect world opinion. The resolution amplifies an International Court of Justice ruling in July that concluded Israeli occupation of lands are an illegal annexation and apartheid. That was the first time an international court weighed in on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
Who's involved: The Hague-based ICJ, the U.N.'s principal judicial body, says Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal under international law and it must end its presence “as rapidly as possible.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon appealed to U.N. member nations to reject the resolution because it undermines Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, whose attacks and hostage-taking in southern Israel on Oct. 7 triggered the Israel-Hamas war.
Nations have "politicized" the process, he told the assembly. "This was not a quest for legal clarity," he said, "but a predetermined attempt to delegitimize Israel on the world stage. Let's call it for what it is: This resolution is diplomatic terrorism."
Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour argued that Palestinians face an “existential threat” and must be allowed to return to their ancestral lands. “Please stand on the right side of history. With international law. With freedom. With peace," he told the assembly. "The alternative is what you witness every day on your TV screens."
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas Greenfield urged the assembly to reject the resolution, saying it doesn't recognize that Hamas is a terrorist organization and that Israel has a right to defend itself.
What's happening now: The resolution is one of several that the assembly has adopted to express support for Palestinians crushed by the war. More than 41,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the fighting, while almost 95,000 Palestinians and 5,400 Israelis have been injured, according to U.N. data. The war has displaced 1.9 million people.
