UNGA endorses resolution on two-state solution for Israel, Palestine

New York (Web Desk): The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday passed with a strong majority a declaration supporting the peaceful resolution of the Palestine issue through the two-State solution, a move Pakistan described as a “timely” initiative aimed at injecting momentum into the stagnant peace process.

The outcome, referred to as the New York Declaration, emerged from an international conference convened in July at UN Headquarters by France and Saudi Arabia.

The gathering is scheduled to resume later this month. Of the Assembly’s 193 members, 142 supported the resolution. Israel was among the ten nations opposing it—joined by Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and the United States—while 12 abstained.

In remarks before the vote, French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont underlined that the New York Declaration “lays out a single roadmap to deliver the two-State solution.”

The proposal includes an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages, and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

It also demands Hamas’s disarmament and removal from governance in Gaza, the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states, and guarantees of collective security.

Israel’s representative Danny Danon rejected the initiative, declaring that “this one-sided Declaration will not be remembered as a step toward peace, only as another hollow gesture that weakens this Assembly’s credibility.”

He further argued that “Hamas is the biggest winner of any endorsement here today” and that the group would brand it “the fruit of 7 October.”

The July conference took place as the war in Gaza raged on and prospects for the two-State vision dimmed further.

Opening the meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that “the central question for Middle East peace is implementation of the two-State solution, where two independent, sovereign, democratic States – Israel and Palestine – live side-by-side in peace and security.”

Explaining Islamabad’s stance, Pakistan’s permanent envoy to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the adoption “reflects Islamabad’s commitment to the realization of a just and lasting peace.”

He condemned Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 64,000 people and obliterated homes, hospitals, schools, and other civilian facilities, calling such destruction a grave breach of international humanitarian law that has inflicted immense suffering on Palestinians.

Ambassador Asim also pointed to the “continued attempts by the occupier to expand illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in flagrant defiance of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions.” These actions, he cautioned, deepen the humanitarian crisis and erode the possibility of achieving a two-State outcome.

The Pakistani envoy urged an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire across Gaza and all occupied Palestinian Territories; a full and unimpeded humanitarian access to the besieged and starved Palestinian population,” stressing that Israel’s occupation must come to an end.

He concluded by calling on the international community to convert its pledges into concrete measures, thereby advancing the Palestinians’ long-denied right to statehood and self-determination.