New York, December 19, 2017 (WAFA) - The United Nations General Assembly Tuesday adopted a majority in favor of a resolution reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour told WAFA that 176 member states voted in favor of the resolution.

Seven countries voted against the resolution, including the United States and Israel, while four countries abstained.

He said this sweeping vote comes one day after the United States vetoed a Security Council draft resolution on Jerusalem and this has a special political meaning. “The world rejects the new US position on Jerusalem, which increases its isolation, because it decided to stand by the occupying state, Israel, in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions.”  

Mansour pointed out that the General Assembly will vote Wednesday on a resolution stipulating the right of the Palestinian people to sovereignty over their natural resources in the occupied territories, including occupied Jerusalem.

A resolution on Jerusalem will be voted on Thursday, he added.

M.H.