Meeting within the U.N. (Credit: AFP)
Much to the dismay of Israel and the United States, the U.N. General Assembly on Friday adopted by a large majority the “New York Declaration,” aimed at reviving the two-state solution — Israeli and Palestinian — which for the first time unequivocally excludes Hamas.
While Israel has for nearly two years denounced the Assembly’s and the Security Council’s failure to condemn the unprecedented attacks carried out by the Palestinian movement on Oct. 7, 2023, the text prepared by France and Saudi Arabia, adopted with 142 votes in favor, 10 against (including Israel and the U.S.), and 12 abstentions, is explicit. “We condemn the attacks perpetrated on Oct. 7 by Hamas against civilians,” it states.
The declaration, already co-signed in July by 17 states, including several Arab countries, goes further: “In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must cease exercising authority over the Gaza Strip and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with the support and collaboration of the international community, in line with the goal of a sovereign and independent State of Palestine.”
This vote “expresses the international will in favor of our people’s rights and constitutes an important step toward ending the occupation” and the realization of a Palestinian state, welcomed Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh on X. “Together, we are charting an irreversible path toward peace,” added French President Emmanuel Macron. Neither Israel nor the United States was convinced.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein denounced a “political circus detached from reality” and rejected a “shameful” resolution. It “does not promote a peace solution but on the contrary … encourages Hamas to continue the war,” he argued on X. The declaration is a “gift for Hamas” and “a new publicity stunt” that “undermines serious efforts to end the conflict,” echoed American diplomat Morgan Ortagus.
The vote comes just days before the summit on the Palestinian question that Paris and Riyadh will co-chair on Sep. 22 at the U.N., where Emmanuel Macron has pledged to recognize the Palestinian state.
A ‘shield’ against criticism
“The fact that the General Assembly is finally backing a text that condemns Hamas directly is important,” said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group.
Countries supporting the Palestinians will thus be able to “reject Israeli accusations that they implicitly condone Hamas,” he told AFP. This “provides a shield against Israel’s criticism” for those preparing to recognize the Palestinian state.
Following Paris, several countries have announced their intention to do so during the U.N. General Assembly at the end of September, a process seen as further pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza, sparked by the October 2023 attacks.
The “New York Declaration” also calls for an “end to the war in Gaza” and a “just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on genuine implementation of the two-state solution.” A familiar stance of the Assembly.
In the perspective of a cease-fire, it supports the deployment of a “temporary international stabilization mission” in Gaza, to provide “security guarantees to both Palestine and Israel.”
Roughly three-quarters of the U.N.’s 193 member states recognize the Palestinian state proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988. But with the war that has devastated Gaza, the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and the ambitions of Israeli officials to annex the occupied territory, some fear that the creation of a Palestinian state may be physically impossible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unequivocal on Thursday: “There will be no Palestinian state.” His U.S. ally has already announced that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not be allowed to travel to New York.
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