Israel’s wanton aggression against Lebanon has overshadowed an important decision made by the UN General Assembly linked to the violence and wars that mark our present moment in history. On Wednesday, 18th September 2024, 124 nations voted in favour of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution to end the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in Palestine. The resolution was prompted by a ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest judicial body, which had ordered Israel to withdraw from Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The ICJ decision of 19th July 2024 was undoubtedly influenced by Israel’s blatant genocide in Gaza and its massacres in the West Bank. The UN General Assembly gave Tel Aviv 12 months to withdraw from the OPT.
Given Israel’s track record, no one should expect Israel to abide by the UNGA’s resolution. Nonetheless, the 124 nations that endorsed the resolution should go all out to ensure that the resolution is implemented. Thay represent almost two-thirds of the total membership of the UN. Their vote, viewed collectively, is the voice of the vast majority of the human family. The huge public gatherings held in so many different parts of the world in the course of the last one year against Israel’s genocide and for the right of the Palestinians to establish their own sovereign, independent state in accordance with UN resolutions attest to the overwhelming support that the Palestinian quest for self- determination enjoys among the people of the world.