UN panel majority votes in favour of Palestinian statehood, end of Israeli occupation

The General Assembly's third committee passed the draft resolution on Thursday, according to i24 News, with 163 member states voting in favour of the draft against five opposing votes and 10 abstentions.

The draft resolution also called for a swift end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands, which Israel illegally took control of in 1967.

The resolution, which calls for a "just and comprehensive peace settlement" based on a two-state solution, is part of a larger group of resolutions the assembly passes every year on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel, the United States, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Nauru voted against the proposal, while Canada – which usually votes in favor of the Jewish state – supported the resolution, the report said.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Israel is accused of various abuses against Palestinian civilians. The settlements are also considered illegal under international law.

Read also: Israel has detained 400 Palestinian children this year

The vote came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made unprecedented visits to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the vote was "a natural response from the international community to the Israeli occupation's violations, as well as a response to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the colonial Israeli settlements."

Last week, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister and Security Minister Benny Gantz promised to approve 1,700 additional settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite outrage from Palestinians, to boost his popularity as elections loom.

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