UN to vote on draft calling on Israel illegal occupation

The United Nations General Assembly resumed its tenth emergency special session yesterday evening at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, entitled: (Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the illegality of the continued Israeli presence in the occupied Palestinian territory).

The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, said that the draft resolution reflects the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which was issued last July at the request of the General Assembly, on the illegality of Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.

He added that the draft resolution was sponsored by 40 countries and is based on international law, stressing the need to respect the rule of law and the rights of the Palestinian people to access justice.

Mansour explained that the draft resolution reflects in its preamble the decisions reached by the International Court of Justice, with a focus in its executive paragraphs on the obligations of Israel, all states, the United Nations and other international organizations in accordance with international law.

He explained that the draft resolution calls for taking a number of individual and collective measures to support the law and implement the relevant United Nations resolutions on the Palestinian issue.

"Today, the world must reject double standards and stand on the right side of history with international law, freedom and peace, as the alternative is what the entire world is watching on television screens of crimes and genocide to which Palestinian people are being subjected," Mansour added.

The convening of the special session of the United Nations to vote on the Palestinian draft resolution comes days before the arrival of dozens of world leaders and presidents in New York to participate in the opening of the annual session of the General Assembly.

MNA/PR