UNGA seeks to strip Israel of right to self-defense in Gaza, West Bank

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to vote on Wednesday on a resolution that seeks to strip Israel of the right to self-defense in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.

This text “ignores the Hamas terror attack of October 7, ignores Israel’s legitimate security concerns, and seeks to remove Israel’s ability to protect itself,” Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told the plenum at a Tuesday debate prior to the vote.

The document was submitted by over 40 countries and is part of an effort by the Palestinian Authority to give teeth to July’s International Court of Justice advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of territory over the pre-1967 lines was illegal. Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia were all cosponsors of the resolution.

The resolution calls on the IDF, which has military control of the West Bank and Gaza, to fully withdraw from those territories within 12 months as part of an extensive list of 19 demands. This would include evacuating all West Bank settlements and outposts. As part of that evacuation, Israel will be asked to withdraw from all parts of east Jerusalem, including the Old City.

Israel must remove “all its military forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including its airspace and maritime space,” the text stated.

The resolution bans arms sales to the IDF of any equipment that might be used in territory over the pre-1967 lines, namely in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem. It also calls to boycott all products produced in those territories.

It asks UN member states to “take steps towards ceasing the importation of products originating in the Israeli settlements, as well as the provision or transfer of arms, munitions, and related equipment to Israel… in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

No mention of Israeli concerns

The extensive text, which is one of the more onerous anti-Israel resolutions to be presented to the General Assembly, makes no mention of Israeli security concerns or the potential of Palestinian attacks against Israel such as the Hamas-led invasion from Gaza in October 2023.

It comes before the UNGA amid a protracted Gaza war. Hamas asserts that over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in that war. Israel has said that over 17,000 of the dead were combatants.

Palestinian Authority Ambassador Riyad Mansour recalled the ICJ’s “historic” advisory opinion when he told the UNGA the time had come for it to “uphold its mandate and for all [UN member] states to uphold their own obligations to ensure Israel compliance” with international law.

He assured the Palestinian people that the time had come for the international community to back their just claim to self-determination.

“I stand on this podium… to tell the Palestinian people that a change is going to come, that their fate is not endless suffering and agony, that freedom is their birthright and their destiny.”

 “The world is watching us to see if we can live up to the commitments we undertake and to the principles we claim as ours at this historic and crucial juncture for humankind,” Mansour said to the UN member states.

He urged them to “please stand on the right side of history” by voting for international law, freedom, and peace for the Palestinian people.

“The alternative is what you witness every day on your TV screen,” Mansour said, explaining that “a different reality is possible. It starts now and here. Free Palestine. Peace for All.”

Danon had harsh words for the UNGA for considering a resolution that did not mention October 7, Hamas, or the 251 hostages.

The UNGA has passed two resolutions on the conflict since October 7, “yet there has not been one word about Hamas and barely a word about the hostages. Those who contribute to this circus are not simply bystanders, you are participants,” he stated.

Danon held up a photograph of the tunnel in which six of the hostages were executed earlier this month, noting that the chamber had been hidden under a child’s bedroom.

“This resolution distorts the flawed advisory opinion of the ICJ. It ignores the truth, twists the facts, and replaces reality with fiction,” he stated.

The text, he said, “is not a quest for legal clarity, but a predetermined attempt to delegitimize Israel on the world stage.”

The UN, he said, has confused the victim with the victimizer as he recalled that Hamas’s charter seeks the destruction of Israel.

“Instead of condemning the killers – the ones who want to commit genocide – you condemn the victims,” Danon said.

“This resolution seeks to deflect blame for Hamas’s own atrocities onto Israel who is forced to defend itself,” he stated.