The U.N. General Assembly will hold a special emergency session on Friday to vote on a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate cessation of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The General Assembly draft resolution, “Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” will be voted on by all 192 member states. If the resolution is adopted, however, it will be non-binding. The draft resolution, initially submitted to the Security Council by Qatar, was put up for a council vote on Saturday, when it was vetoed by the United States, which called it unbalanced. The draft was first circulated last week after 18 civilians were killed while they slept in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. Because of the Security Council's failure to pass the resolution calling for the end to Israeli aggression, Palestinian Observer Riyadh Mansour referred the case to the Arab League meeting in Cairo on Sunday, where ministers referred the failed council resolution to the U.N. General Assembly for a symbolic vote.
