New York, SANA – UN Security Council (UNSC) rejected Wednesday a draft resolution on putting an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories after it was opposed by the United States and Australia and with 5 abstentions and 8 vote in favor.
AFP said that Russia, China, Argentina, Chile, Chad, Luxemburg, France and Jordan voted in favor of the draft resolution which calls for withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the occupied Palestinian territories by 2017, while the UK, along with Lithuania, Nigeria, Korea and Rwanda have abstained from the vote.
Palestinian Representative to the UN Riyad Mansour expressed regret over the Council’s failure to adopt the Palestinian draft resolution as it acquires global consensus with regard to finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The draft resolution set a deadline for ending the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and seeks to achieving the Palestinian independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital based on 1967 borders, Mansour pointed out.
Mansour criticized the Council as “being not ready” to shoulder responsibilities for the adoption of a comprehensive, peaceful and just solution to the Palestinian cause based on international law.
He reiterated that the Palestinian people have suffered due to the Israeli offensive, robbing their lands, building more settlements, demolishing their houses and the killing and detaining of thousands of civilians among them women and children in addition to the terrorist provocative by the Israeli settlers.
H. Zain/ Barry