Palestinians demand Israel leave Gaza and West Coast within six months

The proposed resolution at the General Assembly, which the Associated Press has secured, follows a decision by the main UN tribunal in July, which said Israel's presence in Palestinian territories is illegal and must end.

Condemning Israel's rule over those territories that it occupied 57 years ago, the International Court of Justice said that Israel has no right to sovereignty over territories and that it is violating international laws against the force of land. The JND also said that building Israeli settlements should be halted.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon condemned the proposed resolution and described it as “rewards for terrorism”. He said the resolution should be rejected.

“Let me be clear: Nothing will stop or prevent Israel from his mission to bring home hostages and eliminate Hamas”, he said, referring to the Palestinian group, declared a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

The draft resolution comes after the Israeli Army offensive in Gaza enters the 11th month. The war in Gaza was sparked after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, and since then violence in the West Coast has also increased.

The proposed resolution, even if approved by 193 members of the General Assembly, will not be legally binding document. There is no veto power in the Assembly, as is the 15-member Security Council.

A diplomat said Palestinians want this resolution voted before Assembly leaders start their annual meetings on 22 September.

The proposal calls for Israel to respect international law, including the immediate withdrawal of all military forces from Palestinian territories.

It also requires an end to the construction of new settlements but also to the evacuation of all the settlers and the destruction of the partitioning barrier Israel has built on the West Coast.

The draft resolution also calls for all displaced Palestinians during the Israeli occupation to be allowed to return “to their original settlements”, adding that Israel must pay “for the damage caused”.

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyadh Mansour last month said before the Security Council that he plans to present the General Assembly in September a resolution on the basis of the JND decision.

Israel has conquered the West Coast, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem during the Middle East War in 1967. The Palestinians want these three territories to be part of their future state. Three million Palestinians in the West Coast live under Israeli military rule, while the Palestinian Authority, backed by the West, has limited control in populated centres.

More than 500,000 Jewish settlers living in settlements built throughout the territory, considered by the majority of the international community as illegal, have Israeli citizenship.

Israel says the future of the West Coast should be placed in negotiations. Meanwhile, 2005 Israel had withdrawn from Gaza, but kept a blockade in the territory after Hamas took power in 2007. /rel