The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) delivered a resounding vote in favor of a two-state framework for Israel and Palestine on Friday, 12 September, deepening international pressure on Israel. The vote came as Israeli forces intensified their campaign in Gaza, with the latest strike hitting two UN schools and killing 23 people.
By a margin of 142 votes to 10, with 12 abstentions, the Assembly adopted what has been called the New York Declaration, a resolution drafted by France and Saudi Arabia that lays out a series of concrete and time-bound steps intended to revive long-stalled efforts toward a Palestinian state. The measure passed less than a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed there would “never” be Palestinian sovereignty. The United States joined Israel in opposing the motion.
The seven-page text urged an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza, a return to negotiations, and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. It also calls on Hamas to release remaining hostages, relinquish its rule in Gaza, and hand over weapons to the Palestinian Authority, positioning the latter as the legitimate authority of a future state.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hailed the declaration, praising Riyadh and Paris for what it described as an “implementable roadmap” and urging concrete measures to dismantle what it termed the Israeli occupation.
Diplomats described the sweeping endorsement as evidence of growing frustration with the stalemate in peace talks and concern over the worsening situation in the occupied territories.
The vote comes ahead of a high-profile summit in New York on 22 September, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, where President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood formally. More than 140 countries already recognize Palestine; a handful of European states, including France, Spain, Ireland, Norway, and potentially Britain, are preparing to do so this month.
Israel, however, dismissed the U.N. resolution as detached from reality. Oren Marmorstein, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, denounced the Assembly as a “political circus” and criticized the measure for failing to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The diplomatic clash unfolded against the backdrop of intensifying violence. Israel has escalated its military operations across the region, striking targets in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, and Qatar in addition to Gaza and the West Bank.
A particularly controversial airstrike in Doha earlier this week killed five senior Hamas officials engaged in mediation talks, drawing condemnation from members of the U.N. Security Council. Qatar’s prime minister, attending an emergency session in New York, accused Israel of deliberately undermining negotiations.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the Israeli military said it had targeted more than 500 sites in recent days and vowed to intensify attacks aimed at dismantling Hamas infrastructure.
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