Yesterday evening, Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” by an overwhelming majority, as the resolution received the support of 172 countries, and 4 countries opposed it: (the United States, Israel, Micronesia, and Nauru), and 10 countries abstained from voting.

This resolution reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to have their independent state of Palestine, and urges all countries, specialized agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue supporting and assisting the Palestinian people to achieve their right to self-determination as soon as possible.

The resolution also stresses the urgent necessity to end, without delay, the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, and achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the road map plan to find a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution. It also stresses the necessity of respecting and preserving the unity, contiguity and integrity of the entire occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.

The United Nations General Assembly also adopted a draft resolution affirming the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to their natural resources, and the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

158 countries voted in favor of this resolution, while 6 countries opposed it: the United States, Israel, Canada, Neru, Micronesia, and Palau, while 13 countries abstained from voting.

Following the vote, Minister Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, thanked the countries that voted in favor of the resolution, praising the overwhelming support for it, which indicates that the international community strongly supports the rights of the Palestinian people in all their aspects, especially in the midst of the barbaric Israeli aggression against our people. In the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, stressing the need to oblige Israel to implement these decisions.