Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan

Condemnatory

Yes

Analysis

• This resolution condemns Israel for settlements, declares that Israeli settlements are an obstacle to peace, and uses very harsh language to accuse Israel of violating international law. In doing so, it adopts the Palestinian position on issues that the Oslo Accords left to negotiations, such as borders and settlements. Israel is treated with disdain in comparison to praise and deference shown to governments in UN resolutions on other countries, such as Iran.
• The resolution fully endorses the biased and politicized July 2024 ICJ advisory opinion determining that the Israeli occupation is illegal under international law, that Israel must unilaterally withdraw from these territories, and that it is guilty of apartheid, among other things.
• The resolution also makes an immoral equivalence between Palestinian terror and violence and Israeli countermeasures by generically condemning acts of "violence and terror" on "both sides." Finally, the resolution specifically condemns incitement by “Israeli settlers,” but fails to expressly condemn widespread, violent and antisemitic incitement by Palestinian officials, media, and education.

Main Sponsors

Namibia, Cuba

Vote

Yes - 151, No - 9, Abstain - 19, Absent - 14

See Full Vote

Key Praise

None

Key Criticism

• "Condemning settlement activities by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as violations of international humanitarian law..."
• "Condemning the demolition by Israel, in contravention of international law, of Palestinian buildings in the neighbourhood of Wadi al-Hummus in the village of Sur Bahir, south of occupied East Jerusalem..."
• "Deploring the continuing unlawful construction by Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and expressing its concern, in particular, about the route of the wall in departure from the Armistice Line of 1949..."
• "Condemning also all acts of violence, destruction, harassment, provocation and incitement by Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, against Palestinian civilians..."
• "Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development."
• "Reiterates its demand for the immediate and complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem..."
• "Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development."
• "Recalls the determination by the International Court of Justice, in its advisory opinion rendered on 19 July 2024, that Israel’s policies and practices amount to annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, contrary to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations and its corollary principle of the non-acquisition of territory by force..."
• "Recalls that the International Court of Justice observed that Israel’s legislation and measures impose and serve to maintain a near-complete separation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between the settler and Palestinian communities and considered that they constitute a breach of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination."
• "Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with its legal obligations, as mentioned in the advisory opinions rendered on 9 July 2004 and 19 July 2024 by the International Court of Justice, including to bring an end to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible..."