PA wants UN to order removal of 500,000 Jews from Judea and Samaria
The Palestinian Authority is circulating a draft resolution asking the United Nations General Assembly to urge Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria and remove some 500,000 Israeli citizens living in the territory within six months.
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters, Sept. 21, 2023. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday, the resolution, which cites a July 19 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, is expected to be brought to a vote next week.
The 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to open on Sept. 10.
In addition to demanding an end to Israel’s civilian and military presence, the draft text urges U.N. member states to impose sanctions on officials in Jerusalem, banning trade with Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria and blocking weapons sales to Israel if they might be used in the area.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon, attacked the P.A.’s move and called on the 193 members of the General Assembly to “outright reject this shameful resolution and instead adopt a resolution condemning Hamas, calling on it to release all the hostages immediately.
“Let it be clear: Nothing will stop nor deter Israel in its mission to bring back all the hostages and defeat Hamas,” the Israeli diplomat stated.
“If this resolution passes in the General Assembly, exactly one year after the Oct. 7 massacre, the most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, it would be a reward for terrorism and a message to the world that the barbaric massacre of children, the rape of women and the kidnapping of innocent civilians is a profitable move,” added Danon.
While the Palestinians have a near-automatic majority in the General Assembly—including the overwhelming portion of nearly 60 Arab and Muslim governments—resolutions passed by the body are not binding.
On July 19, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial arm of the U.N., issued a non-binding, 83-page opinion declaring Israel’s 57-year “occupation” of Judea and Samaria to be “unlawful.”
The non-binding ruling claimed that “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law.”
Jerusalem is “obliged to bring an end to its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible,” the U.N. court added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ruling, saying that no “absurd” ICJ opinion can “deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.”
Despite the P.A.’s continued efforts to undermine Israel through lawfare, the U.S. administration insists that Ramallah be given control of the Gaza Strip following the cessation of hostilities there.
