UN General Assembly condemned assaults by Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people

The General Assembly condemned the assaults by Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Jenin refugee camp, as it adopted a resolution Tuesday evening.

Approving the resolution on “Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory” as amended, the Assembly's resumed tenth emergency special session also condemned Israel’s refusal to cooperate with the Secretary-General’s fact-finding team to the Jenin refugee camp, in disregard of Security Council resolution 1405 (2002).

By a recorded vote of 74 in favour to 4 against (Federated States of Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, United States), with 54 abstentions, the Assembly, emphasizing the importance of civilian safety and well-being in the whole Middle East region, condemned in particular all acts of violence and terror resulting in deaths and injuries among Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

Further, the Assembly demanded that Israel cease all hindrances to the work of humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Also by the text, the Assembly called for implementation of the declaration adopted by the Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention at Geneva on 5 December 2001, to ensure respect by Israel of that Convention.

The Assembly further requested the Secretary-General, drawing upon all available resources and information, to report on the recent events in Jenin and other Palestinian cities.

Prior to adopting the text as a whole, the Assembly took a recorded vote on each of the resolution’s 14 preambular and 10 operative paragraphs, adopting them all.