General Assembly resumes emergency special meet on Palestine

People in Gaza are living in increasingly unsanitary conditions. © UNRWA

17 September 2024 - The General Assembly has resumed its 10th emergency special session on the issue of Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Palestine has introduced a draft resolution that demands an end to the occupation within one year. Member States are debating now and will vote on it later in the session. UN News app users can follow live here.

How aid is (and is not) getting into Gaza

A relentless siege, deadly targeted attacks and chronic restrictions on lifesaving aid deliveries into the war-torn Gaza Strip by Israeli forces: that’s just some of what aid workers are grappling with as they try to provide the level of lifesaving assistance needed to stave off widespread famine and epidemics in the strip.

UN News looked at the needs triggered by the ongoing conflict through a lens of how much aid is getting into Gaza compared with what is required to address the grim situation on the ground,  where 2.3 million Palestinians are trapped amid an ongoing war that began almost one year ago following Hamas-led attacks that left more than 1,000 people dead in Israel and 250 taken hostage.

Now they are grappling with rampant hunger, the spread of disease, vast destruction, a decimated healthcare system, destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure and a severe lack of basic necessities.

Committed to two-State solution: United States

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States said that her country has worked with determination to support a comprehensive peace agreement what would permanently resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“There is no other path that both guarantees Israel’s security and future as a democratic Jewish State and ensures Palestinians can live in peace and dignity in a State of their own,” she said.

“Consistent with this position, we have long opposed unilateral measures that undermine the prosect of a two-State solution, that includes the advancement of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and it includes the resolution that the Palestinian delegation has put before us today.”

She noted that the US has been clear about its policy concerns over Israel's settler programme and that it is inconsistent with international law.

“We maintain firm opposition to settlement expansion, which in our judgment only weakens Israel’s security,” she said.

She added that the US respects the important role of the ICJ in peaceful settlement of disputes and in advising the General Assembly: “However, adoption of a one-sided resolution that selectively interprets the substance of the ICJ’s opinion does not advance what we all want to see – progress towards two States living in peace, side by side.”

Palestine’s status at the UN explained

What will it take for Palestine to become a full UN Member State? We looked at Palestine’s current status and what it takes to be admitted with full rights.

Algeria hails ‘historic’ ICJ advisory opinion

Ambassador Amar Bendjama of Algeria, which serves as a non-permanent UN Security Council member, said today's meeting is a “stark reminder” of the importance of multilateral action.

“The occupying power openly denies the rights of the Palestinian people and seeks to undermine the establishment of their State,” he said, emphasising that the historic ICJ advisory opinion challenges the Israeli occupation narrative and exposes its apartheid policies.

The draft Palestine has submitted is historic in its own right, another victory on the path to its full membership at the United Nations. Indeed, the draft provides a road map to end the occupation.

"Today, we must be united in support of the Palestinian people," he said, urging all Member States to vote in favour of the draft.

Syria: ‘Barbaric Israeli aggression’ must end

Syrian Ambassador Koussay Aldahhak, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, strongly condemned the “barbaric Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank” that has led to the killing, injury and disappearance of 145,000 Palestinians.

“The occupying power wouldn’t have persisted in these practices if it weren’t for the unlimited support provided by the United States and some of its allies,” he added. 

He also reaffirmed his “full support to the brotherly Palestinian people in facing the Israeli killing machinery and in their struggle to end the occupation and to enjoy their inalienable established rights”, including the right to its own independent State and to be granted full UN membership.

He called for the implementation of the ICJ's advisory opinion on the matter and of related UN resolutions that would put an end to this “genocidal war”.

“We call for holding the occupying power accountable for their practices and to ensure that they are not repeated", which would drag the Middle East into an escalating conflict that threatens regional and international peace and security, he concluded. 

Ending occupation an urgent necessity: Egypt

Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud, Permanent Representative of Egypt, said that the Israeli occupation - with its settlements and extremist settlers - “would not be viable”, if countries that respect international law and the ICJ’s legal opinion decided to boycott Israel and end cooperation.

“Putting an end to the occupation and deterring Israel’s hostile behaviour against the Palestinian people is an urgent necessity to maintain international security and what remains of regional stability,” he said.

“Israel has gone too far, and its aggression against the United Nations itself has killed more than 220 UN staff members, as it continues to adopt a law that would criminalise UNRWA and consider it a terrorist organization.”

This is an unprecedented action, where a UN body is labelled as “terrorist”, he added, noting also the devastation in Gaza and humanitarian crisis due to the ongoing Israeli military offensive. 

Translate legal opinion into action: Pakistan

Ambassador Munir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistan, emphasised that the reason for the emergency session was to “translate into action”, the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July.

 “The ICJ’s conclusions emphasize that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and its attempts to prolong the occupation and its security policies, violate two basic principles of International law – the right of peoples to self-determination, and the principle of non-acquisition of territory by the use of force,” he said.

“Pakistan has co-sponsored the draft resolution, presented with its enhanced rights by the State of Palestine, which seeks to implement the conclusions of the ICJ,” he added.

He noted that the “tragic history” of Palestine and its people was caused by a series of legal and political decisions “imposed by colonial and imperial powers”, including the partition of Palestine - despite the opposition of Arab and Islamic nations.

Pakistan’s founding leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, warned in 1948 that Israel’s creation would have grave consequences and now "history is witness to these consequences,” he said.

“A brutal occupation which has lasted 50 years, the steady acquisition of Palestinian lands, properties and homes to accommodate illegal and aggressive Jewish settlers. The imposition of a segregated apartheid rule in occupied Palestine.”

The 10th emergency special session explained

The 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly was convened for the first time in April 1997 following a request from Qatar.

The session followed a series of Security Council and General Assembly meetings regarding the Israeli decision to build Har Homa, a 6,500-unit housing project, in the Jabal Abu Ghneim area of East Jerusalem.

The session has resumed multiple times since then, including shortly after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the current ongoing war in Gaza.

On 12 December 2023, the Assembly adopted, by a vote of with 153 votes in favour, 23 abstentions and 10 against, the resolution Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations during the 45th plenary meeting of the resumed 10th emergency special session.

By the terms of that resolution, the General Assembly “demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire; reiterates its demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians; and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access”. – UN News