NEW YORK, December 20, 2014 – (WAFA) – The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly adopted Friday a resolution on permanent Palestinian sovereignty in the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT) over their natural resources.

The Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources was adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes in the UNGA sixty-ninth session.

According to a UN press release, 165 states voted in favor of the resolution and 6 states voted against (Canada, Israel, Marshal Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of) Palau, and United States) with 9 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Honduras, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and Vanuatu).

Through that resolution, the Assembly demanded that Israel cease exploiting, damaging, depleting and endangering the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan. It also called for immediate and safe removal of all unexploded ordnance in the Gaza Strip, and for support for the efforts of the United Nations Mine Action Service in that regard.

The resolution was one among 38 resolutions, including seven that required recorded votes, and five decisions that the UN General Assembly passed on a range of issues. The General Assembly adopted without a vote another resolution titled Assistance to the Palestinian People.

According to the UN press release, the resolution was introduced by representatives of Italy, Sebastiano Cardi, on behalf of the European Union (EU). The resolution text urged Member States, international financial institutions of the United Nations system, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and regional and interregional organizations to extend economic and social assistance to the Palestinian people, in cooperation with the Palestine Liberation Organization, and through official Palestinian institutions.

It stressed the importance of following up on the results of the Cairo conference on Palestine, “Reconstructing Gaza”, to promote economic recovery and reconstruction in a timely and sustainable manner.

K.F./T.R.