UN General Assembly supports creation of Palestine
Kyiv • UNN
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution supporting the decision to create a Palestinian state, calling on Israel to recognize its right to statehood. 142 countries voted "for", 10 "against", 12 abstained, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly opposed it.
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly supported the decision to create a Palestinian state, despite Israel's opposition. This was reported by AP, writes UNN.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution supporting the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and called on Israel to recognize Palestine's right to statehood — a move strongly resisted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The 193-member Assembly approved a non-binding resolution supporting the so-called "New York Declaration" — a step-by-step plan to end the nearly 80-year-old conflict. 142 countries voted in favor, 10 against, and 12 abstained.
Hours before the vote, Netanyahu stated:
"There will be no Palestinian state." He was speaking at the signing of an agreement to expand Israeli settlements that would divide the West Bank — territory Palestinians see as a key part of a future state. Netanyahu added: "This place belongs to us."
Addition
The resolution was introduced by France and Saudi Arabia, which co-chaired a high-level conference in July on implementing the two-state solution. It was there that the declaration was approved.
The nearly two-year war in Gaza, as well as general issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are expected to be major topics of discussion at the annual session of the General Assembly, which begins on September 22.
The Palestinian side stated that it hopes for the recognition of Palestinian statehood by at least 10 more countries, in addition to the more than 145 states that have already done so.
Recall
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as an independent state in September this year at the UN General Assembly.
Subsequently, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the United Kingdom would recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel did not take significant steps to end the "appalling situation" in the Gaza Strip.
On September 5, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to abandon the unilateral recognition of Palestine. Saar stated that French President Emmanuel Macron would not be able to visit Israel as long as this step remained on the agenda.