NEW YORK: The UN General Assembly on Tuesday called on the Zionist entity to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and pushed for the creation of a Palestinian state, convening an international conference in June to try to jumpstart a two-state solution. In a resolution passed by a 157-8 vote, with the United States and the Zionist entity among those voting no, and seven abstentions, the Assembly expressed “unwavering support, in accordance with international law, for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine”.

The Assembly said the two states should be “living side by side in peace and security within recognized borders, based on the pre-1967 borders.” It has called for a high-level international meeting in New York in June 2025, to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, to breathe new life into diplomatic efforts to make the two-state solution a reality. The Assembly called for the “realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent state.”

Kuwait called on UN member-states to support Palestine’s request

to receive a full membership in the UN. Kuwait’s diplomatic attache Abdulaziz Al-Saeedi noted that in 1947, the General Assembly took the responsibility to reach a just solution for the Palestinian cause, approving resolution no. 181 on establishing two independent states. Al-Saeedi said that it is the task of the UN member-states, who recognized Palestine as an independent state, to call on other members who refrained from recognizing the country to do so.

The Zionist occupation is executing a genocide against Palestinians and denying them their basic rights, he added. He expressed Kuwait’s strong condemnation of the occupation’s expansion in building illegal settlements, noting that it is a violation of international law. Meanwhile, he expressed Kuwait’s strong condemnation of the Zionist occupation attacks on Lebanon that have killed hundreds of innocent civilians.

Al-Saeedi called on the UN Security Council to implement its Gaza ceasefire resolution, which includes the withdrawal of Zionist occupation forces and the entry of humanitarian aid to the strip. He underlined the efforts of the region’s countries, including Kuwait, to achieve peace in Palestine and the region, through launching a number of initiatives, including that of Bahrain to hold an international conference for peace in the Middle East.

Al-Saeedi also mentioned Saudi Arabia’s efforts to launch the international alliance to implement the two-state solution in September in cooperation with Norway and the European Union (EU). The Kuwaiti diplomat also underlined the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US for a ceasefire and delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The United Nations considers the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip to be unlawfully occupied by the Zionist entity. The Zionist entity occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967 and maintained troops and settlements there until 2005. Though it has withdrawn, it is still considered the occupying power there.

Alluding to recent rulings by the International Court of Justice, the assembly called on the Zionist entity to end its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as rapidly as possible” and halt all new settlement activity. “The question of Palestine has been on the UN agenda since the inception of the organization and remains the most critical test to its credibility and authority and to the very existence of an international law-based order,” Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said.

It was a UN General Assembly resolution in 1947 that divided British-ruled Palestine into two states — one Arab and one Jewish. But only the creation of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. This triggered a war between the Zionist entity and its Arab neighbors.