PHL joins UN vote vs Israel’s occupation of Palestine

THE PHILIPPINES has voted in favor of a United Nations (UN) resolution urging Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories within a year.

Manila joined 123 other countries including its Southeast Asian neighbors in supporting the UN General Assembly’s resolution that demanded Israel to bring “to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the occupied Palestinian territory “no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution.”

China and Japan also voted in favor of the resolution, which also adopted an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion reiterating the “illegality” of the Israeli occupation.

The Israeli Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message and e-mail seeking comment.

Only 14 countries voted against the resolution including Israel itself, the US, Argentina, Czechia, Fiji, Hungary, Malawi, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

Forty-three countries abstained including Ukraine, Australia, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and India.

Twelve countries did not vote.

The resolution put forward an ICJ advisory opinion in which the court said “all states are under an obligation not to recognize” the Israeli occupation because it’s illegal.

“Israel is not entitled to sovereignty over or to exercise sovereign powers in any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory on account of its occupation, nor can Israel’s security concerns override the principle of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force,” according to the resolution posted on the UN website.

The UN assembly demanded that Israel fulfill its obligations under international law and withdraw all of its military forces from the occupied Palestinian territory including from air and maritime spaces.

Israel should return immovable properties such as land and other assets seized since the 1967 occupation and cease new settlement activity, it added.

The assembly also demanded that Israel allow all displaced Palestinians during the occupation to return to their residence and pay for the damage caused by its occupation.

The Philippines in October last year abstained from voting in a UN General Assembly resolution that called for a humanitarian pause in Gaza, which has been bombarded by Israel following a major attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

But in November, the Southeast Asian nation joined more than 140 UN members in passing a resolution that condemned Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza