Palestinians to ask UN General Assembly to force Israeli withdrawal from West Bank

The Palestinian Authority is set to push a United Nations General Assembly resolution next month to force Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

“We are going to initiate another action to put an end to this illegal occupation as soon as possible,” Palestinian Authority envoy Riyad Mansour said Thursday in New York at the UN Security Council’s monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The PA plans to place an “actionable resolution” before the General Assembly next month that would give teeth to the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion issued last month that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem is illegal, he said.

Proposed resolution to set a timeline 

The resolution will set a time frame for the “end of this illegal occupation and all the other issues contained in that historic advisory opinion,” Mansour said.

“I expect almost all of you to be with us in trying really to put an end to this illegal occupation and to pave the way for implementing your global consensus on the two solutions like occupation and making the two-state reality,” he said.

“The time for waiting is over,” he added. “The time for action is now. The time for the implementation of the two-state solution will begin with a significant step in the month of September.”

Mansour did not explain how he planned to implement a UN General Assembly resolution, which often lacks enforcement capability.

Most UN steps that involve action, need the support of the United Nations Security Council. The US often uses its veto power in that 15-member body to support Israel.