• Pushes for creation of Palestinian state, to hold global conference in June
• Israeli settlers raid West Bank towns
• UN seeks $47bn for aid in 2025

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly on Tuesday called on Israel 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 jump-start a two-state solution.

In a resolution passed by a 157-8 vote, with the United States and Israel 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 recognised 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 “realisation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent state”.

The United Nations considers the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip to be unlawfully occupied by Israel.

Alluding to recent rulings by the International Court of Justice, the assembly called on Israel to end its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as rapidly as possible” and halt all new settlement activity.

Israeli settlers’ raid

Israeli settlers on Wednesday wounded a Palestinian and set buildings on fire while raiding two villages in the occupied West Bank after a nearby settlement outpost was evicted by Israeli forces, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

“Israeli civilians entered the village of Beit Furik” east of the Palestinian city of Nablus, the Israeli army said, adding that they “set property on fire, and hurled stones”.

Local authorities told AFP the attacks took place early on Wednesday morning.

The army said that the settlers reacted after Israeli forces “acted against illegal construction by Israeli civilians adjacent to the town of Beit Furik” on Tuesday night, triggering clashes during which the settlers injured two policemen with stones.

Nahi Hanani, deputy head of the Beit Furik council, said that dozens of settlers attacked the village “setting fire to a truck in front of one house and another vehicle”, early on Wednesday. “They also set fire to a grocery shop in the village and another house was slightly damaged,” he said.

The army said the Israelis also “set property on fire and threw stones” in Huwara, a town to the south of Nablus.

‘World on fire’

Meanwhile, the UN on Wednesday appealed for more than $47 billion to deliver vital aid next year in a world ravaged by surging conflicts and the climate crisis but warned many in need would not be reached.

“The world is on fire,” the United Nations’ new humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told reporters in Geneva, acknowledging he was looking ahead to 2025 with “dread”.

With brutal conflicts spiralling in places like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, and as climate change and extreme weather take an ever-heavier toll, the UN estimated that 305 million people globally will need some form of emergency assistance next year.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2024