Live updates: UN General Assembly adopts final resolution condemning Israeli settlement in the Occupied West Bank
The Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank on Thursday expressed deep sorrow following the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution condemning Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinianland.
The General Assembly has approved the resolution by a vote of 55 in favour, 22 against with 13 abstentions.
In his speech, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said the resolution was “a strong expression of the world community’s resolve and condemnation of those who seek to legitimize illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Addressing the UNGA Permanent Council, Mansour said the West Bank has witnessed a surge in Israeli settlement activities since 2008.
“The vast majority of these settlements are built on land that falls under international humanitarian law, and are illegal and illegitimate according to the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Mansour said.
He said that the PA Government in Ramallah in the West Bank has “routinely protested and condemned settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory and has repeatedly expressed its support for peace and stability in the region.”
The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is expected to vote on the resolution in the General Assembly’s plenary session on Friday.
The UN Security Council failed to agree to a draft resolution Wednesday that would have condemned Israel for the construction of several settlements and other construction in the West Bank.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the resolution would have only condemned the construction of settlements “in the settlements of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
“We have been consistent throughout this process in trying to find a resolution that would have condemned the settlements,” the UN chief said Wednesday. “Today, unfortunately, we failed.”
UN Security Council Resolution 2334 adopted earlier this month, which the General Assembly approved Tuesday, calls for “immediate cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in areas occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.”
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman told AFP that Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor had “informally asked” the council to postpone votes in the UN after the vote.
“We appreciate the ambassador’s