UN General Assembly Reports Occupation to Hague Court
The resolution promoted by the Palestinians passed on Friday with a vote tally of 87 in favor, 26 against and 53 abstentions.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, called for the Zionist regime to abide by the ruling on its “crimes.”
“The time has come for Israel to bear responsibility for crimes against our people,” said Abu Rudeinah, according to the Ynet news site.
“We believe that justice based on decisions with international legitimacy and the absence of impunity is the only way to achieve permanent and lasting peace in Palestine, and the entire region,” Abu Rudeinah said.
“The vote of the UNGA and the support of 87 countries requesting a legal advisory opinion from the ICJ on the nature of occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories reflects the victory of Palestinian diplomacy, led by the president, who was pressured to withdraw or postpone the decision, but he refused,” tweeted Fatah Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh, seen as a leading candidate to replace Abbas.
“Thank you to our supportive brothers and friends,” he added.
The Zionist regime’s former prime minister Yair Lapid had waged a diplomatic campaign against the measure, contacting over 50 world leaders, to muster opposition to the vote.
The U.S., the UK, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany and Italy voted against Friday’s resolution.
China, Iran, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among those voting in favor, along with Muslim or Arab states with which Israel has relations including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Azerbaijan.
France, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland abstained.
Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman slammed the vote Saturday morning, saying it showed that the occupying regime of Israel cannot rely on the international community.
The resolution is titled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories” and calls on the Hague-based ICJ to “render urgently an advisory opinion” on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory.”
It also calls for an investigation into Israeli measures “aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem (Al-Quds)” and says the Zionist regime has adopted “discriminatory legislation and measures.”
The resolution demands the court weigh in on the conflict in accordance with international law and the UN charter.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the top UN court for mediating disputes between countries. Its rulings are binding and influence public opinion but it has no mechanism for enforcement. The court is separate from the International Criminal Court, which is also in The Hague.
The court last issued an advisory opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2004 when the General Assembly asked it to rule on the legality of the wall the apartheid regime built along much of the West Bank.
Friday’s resolution demanded Israel comply with that ruling. The Palestinians say the wall is an Israeli land grab because of its route through East Al-Quds and parts of the West Bank.
The occupying regime’s new extremist cabinet, sworn in on Thursday, is likely to further stoke tensions with the UN and the international community.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is expected to entrench Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. His coalition deals included a vague commitment to annex the territory to the occupying regime at some point, a pledge to “legalize” dozens of unauthorized settlements, and the provision of large funds for road building and settler transport in the West Bank.
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