New York, US

The United Nations’ decolonisation committee, on Friday, adopted a Palestinian draft which sought the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to “urgently” weigh in on Israel’s “prolonged occupation” and “annexation of the Palestinian territory”. 

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The resolution approved at the UN headquarters in New York requests the ICJ for an “advisory opinion” on what the resolution refers to as Israel’s “prolonged occupation” which it says is violating the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. In a statement, the Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said that 98 countries supported the resolution and 17 voted against it and 52 nations abstained from voting. 

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While welcoming the vote, the Palestinian foreign minister also described the resolution as a “diplomatic and legal breakthrough” which he said would lead to a new era of “holding Israel accountable for its war crimes”. 

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The resolution titled “Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” was one of many in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict during the session, reported the local media.

Countries like the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, Austria, Israel, the Czech Republic, and several Pacific Island nations had voted against the resolution. While countries including, Russia, Bahrain, Egypt, Ukraine, and United Arab Emirates had voted in favour.

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In 1967, after the six-day war, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas which Palestinians want for a state. The resolution calls for the ICJ to weigh in on the conflict in accordance with international law and the UN charter.

On the other hand, Israel’s UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, said involving the ICJ would decimate “any chances of reconciliation” between the two countries. Furthermore, while addressing the UN, he also said that Palestine has “rejected every single peace initiative” and is now embroiling “an external body with the excuse that the conflict has not been resolved?”

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Meanwhile, US deputy representative, Richard Mills, has said that an ICJ advisory would be “counterproductive”, taking the countries further away from the objective of a “negotiated two-state solution”, which they all share. Notably, the last advisory opinion that the ICJ gave on the conflict was in 2004 when it ruled that Israel’s separation barrier was illegal, the country has since disputed this.

(With inputs from agencies) 

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