On 12 September, the members of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of the New York Declaration to begin “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
The seven-page declaration was endorsed by 142 countries. Ten countries opposed it, including Israel and its main ally the US, while 12 others abstained. Dozens of other countries were absent from the vote.
The UN currently has 193 member states, the most recent being South Sudan, which was admitted in 2011. The results of the vote signify that around three-quarters of the international community recognises the Palestinians’ right to be admitted to the UN as an “independent, sovereign, and economically viable” state.
The document, formally titled the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, condemned the Hamas attack against civilians in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
It stated that Hamas “must release all hostages” and, in the context of ending the war in Gaza, that it “must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.”
The declaration also condemned “the attacks by Israel against civilians in Gaza and civilian infrastructure, and the siege and starvation, which have resulted in a devastating humanitarian catastrophe and protection crisis.”
“There is no justification for breaches in grave violation of international law, including international humanitarian law,” it said, stressing “the need for accountability.”
“The war in Gaza must end now,” the declaration said. It called for “collective action” towards this end and “to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the effective implementation of the two-state solution, and to build a better future for Palestinians, Israelis, and all peoples of the region.”
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the vote, describing it as an expression of the international will to support Palestinian rights and a significant step towards ending the occupation and establishing an independent, sovereign state.
As anticipated, Israel “utterly” rejected the declaration. “Once again, it has been proven how much the General Assembly is a political circus detached from reality,” said an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement.
The UNGA erupted in applause after the vote, which comes ahead of a major gathering of world leaders in the UN body in New York on 22 September. That day will occasion a summit jointly chaired by Saudi Arabia and France during which France, Belgium, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom are expected to announce their official recognition of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state.
A mood of cautious optimism prevailed among Palestinian political, media, and cultural circles after the vote.
“It marks the beginning of the decline of Israel’s international influence,” London-based Palestinian commentator Akram Atallah told Al-Ahram Weekly. “With this declaration, the countries that recognise Palestine outnumber those that recognise Israel. This is a big step forward for the Palestinian people.”
“Moreover, the forthcoming recognition by major Western powers like France, Britain, Canada, and Australia is a sign that even Western attitudes towards the conflict are shifting,” Atallah said.
About 145 states recognise Palestine, which is about the same as those that voted in favour of the declaration.
Atallah said that European powers like Britain have long been staunchly pro-Israel and hesitant to acknowledge Palestinian rights. However, Israel’s recent behaviour has succeeded in turning vast segments of public opinion against it in Europe and elsewhere, forcing the UK government to take notice.
He attributed the declaration’s condemnation of Hamas and the insistence it turns in its arms to the international community’s rejection of any form of militia within an independent and sovereign state.
Palestinian political analyst Riham Ouda said last Friday’s vote had expressed the desire of the majority of UN members for “a peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause – one that excludes armed resistance and any future role for Hamas in the political life of the Palestinian state, which is to be internationally recognised.”
The resolution endorsing the New York Declaration was also intended to pressure Israel into accepting the two-state solution and recognising a Palestinian state. It “sent a clear message that the whole world rejects Israel’s annexation of the West Bank and its plans to reoccupy Gaza.”
The vote also “unambiguously signalled the world’s rejection of the 7 October [2023] operation and its consequences,” Ouda said, adding that “there is strong opposition within the international community to any political or military role for Hamas in the future, or what the media calls the ‘day after’ the war.”
“Most countries see Hamas as an obstacle to a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian question, rather than a part of its political future or a party that can participate in government.”
But stronger yet, according to Ouda, is the international outcry against Israeli actions. “The world can no longer tolerate Israel’s actions in the West Bank and, of course, in Gaza – whether the genocide, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), or the blockade that produced the famine that has officially been declared by the UN.”
Those countries that abstained or voted against the declaration did so under US and Israeli pressure, Ouda said.
The six African countries that abstained – Cameroon, Togo, South Sudan, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Ethiopia – face severe challenges that necessitate maintaining strong relations with the US and possibly Israel.
South Sudan is caught between the Civil War in Sudan to the north and its own internal conflicts, which extend to clashes with its former ally Uganda. The DRC is struggling against the Rwandan-backed M23 militia, which currently occupies a large, mineral-rich part of eastern Congo.
The situation in Ethiopia is very precarious, with an insurgency in the Amhara State, the threat of renewed conflict in Tigray, and strained relations with Somalia and Eritrea, both of which fear that Addis Ababa has designs on their ports. Liberia, Togo, and Cameroon are not in a much better condition.
The European countries that abstained were Albania, the Czech Republic, and Moldova. All are opposed to Russia and its ally Serbia and heavily dependent on Washington.
Other countries that voted against the declaration were mostly small Latin American states: Panama (with US President Donald Trump’s threat to seize its Panama Canal looming); Honduras (dependent on US and Israeli military support against organised crime); and Peru, Uruguay, and Paraguay (all of which are dependent on the US and align with US positions).
In Europe, the far-right government of Hungary also voted against the New York Declaration.
Three Arab and Islamic countries were absent for the vote: Tunisia, Iraq, and Iran.
“They objected to the declaration’s condemnation of Hamas and the demand that it disarm,” Ouda said. These countries also support the universally sanctioned right of the Palestinians, as an occupied people, to resist occupation by every means.
They “felt that the UN resolution should condemn Israel exclusively, not Hamas,” Ouda concluded.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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