UN overwhelmingly votes to sanction Israel, impose arms embargo

The vote passed with 124 states in favor of ending the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank

SEP 19, 2024, https://thecradle.co/articles/un-overwhelmingly-votes-to-sanction-israel-impose-arms-embargo

The UN General Assembly voted on 18 September overwhelmingly in favor of ending Israel’s illegal occupation in the West Bank.

The Palestinian-drafted resolution called on Israel to end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months, including the presence of illegal settlements and hundreds of thousands of illegal settlers.

The vote passed with 124 in favor and 43 abstentions. Washington and Tel Aviv voted against the resolution, along with 14 others.

The resolution urged states to “take steps towards ceasing the importation of any products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel … where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The issue of Palestine is “the permanent responsibility” of the UN until it is solved in accordance with international law, the resolution states.

It also cites an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July regarding the illegality of Israel’s West Bank occupation. Additionally, it calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to issue a report on the resolution’s implementation three months into its adoption.

This was the first resolution officially advanced by Palestine since it took its seat among UN member states for the first time this month after being granted additional privileges following a General Assembly vote in May.

It was co-sponsored by 50 states at the General Assembly, including Turkiye.

Prior to the vote, Washington attempted to lobby states against voting in favor of it.

Washington’s UN envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Tuesday urged UN members to vote against the resolution, telling reporters in New York that the Palestinian document has “a significant number of flaws,” claiming it goes “beyond the ICJ ruling” and does not recognize that “Hamas is a terrorist organization.”

Similarly, Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, urged member states to vote against the resolution, calling it “an attempt to destroy Israel through diplomatic terrorism” and “ignores the truth, twists the facts and replaces reality with fiction.”

The Israeli Knesset passed a vote on 18 July, completely rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, including statehood as part of any future peace agreement.

Several countries, including Spain, Norway, and Ireland, recognized Palestine as a state in late May amid mounting criticism of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.