RIYADH — Saudi Arabia welcomed on Wednesday the United Nations General Assembly resolution, demanding Israel to end unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Saudi Arabia's welcoming of the adoption of the resolution in this regard by the emergency special session of the UN General Assembly. The Kingdom stressed the need to take practical and credible steps to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and international legitimacy resolutions in a way that ensures the Palestinian people's inherent right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution that demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. With a recorded vote of 124 nations in favor, 14 against, and 43 abstentions, the resolution calls for Israel to comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank. The General Assembly further demanded that Israel return land and other "immovable property", as well as all assets seized since the occupation began in 1967, and all cultural property and assets taken from Palestinians and Palestinian institutions. The resolution also demands Israel allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their place of origin and make reparation for the damage caused by its occupation. The resolution stems from the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in July in which the Court declared that Israel's continued presence in the Territory "is unlawful", and that "all States are under an obligation not to recognize" the decades-long occupation.
