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(LifeSiteNews) — In what has become a trend at the United Nations over the past several years, the vast majority of member countries voted in favor of another measure expressing disapproval of Israel’s actions.
The UN’s General Assembly adopted a resolution on September 18 calling for Israel to end its “occupation” of Palestine within the next year.
Support came from 124 countries while 43 abstained; only 14 voted against, including the U.S., Israel, Hungary, Argentina, and a consortium of island nations.
READ: Israel’s occupation of Palestine is ‘existentially illegal,’ dozens of nations tell World Court
The resolution comes as Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to escalate the conflict, which began on October 7, 2023.
In neighboring Lebanon, Israeli forces fired on U.N. peacekeepers earlier today. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Force carried out a strike on a school, killing at least 27 people, including a child and seven women.
Conservative estimates place the total death toll above 40,000. Many commentators have deemed the endeavor to be a form of genocide.
Israel claims the terror group Hezbollah operates in civilian centers and that its strikes are justified in order to wipe them out and ensure its survival.
The 15-judge panel for the U.N.’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) had determined in July that Israel was unlawfully occupying Palestinian land and that it was violating international law in building settlements in the West Bank and enacting discriminatory, apartheid-like policies against naive inhabitants, among other measures.
Last month’s vote puts teeth in that measure by giving Israel 12 months to end its occupation. It also follows other sanctions that have isolated Israel from the rest of the world.
Just weeks after the October 7, 2023 attacks, 121 countries voted in favor of a resolution calling for a “truce” and for the flow of humanitarian goods to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.
Labeling Israel an “occupying power,” the statement noted that past Security Council resolutions are binding on all member states as a matter of international law.
Previous measures include Resolution 242 from 1967 that called for the “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from (Palestinian) territories occupied” during the June 1967 war.
The U.S., Austria, Hungary and 11 others voted against that resolution. Forty-four countries abstained.
In December 2023, 153 nations supported a resolution also demanding a ceasefire in the region. Months later, a defiant Netanyahu attacked the Palestinian city of Rafah, which had the effect of displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians.
READ: UN member states deepen isolation of Israel, US by voting 153 to 10 for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has repeatedly called for peace. His Eminence has condemned the “nightmare” scenario while also shining light on the crimes being carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces, which attacked a Catholic school in July.
His Eminence has stated that “it is only by ending decades of occupation and its tragic consequences, as well as giving a clear and secure national perspective to the Palestinian people that a serious peace process can begin.”
In June, the U.N. Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in Geneva issued a report that said Israel’s actions in refusing to distinguish between military targets and civilians “indicates that the IDF may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war.”
WOW! The UN Human Rights Council has investigated Israel’s war in detail – and the conclusions are DAMNING:
“We conclude that Israeli authorities are responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity… including extermination, internationally directing attacks against… pic.twitter.com/zXyg3vWPRi
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) June 19, 2024
In August, the leaders and patriarchs of churches in Jerusalem issued a statement calling for a ceasefire and for immediate diplomatic discussions to “promote a just and lasting peace” via a “legitimate two-state solution.”
Pizzaballa himself wrote a prayer that month asking for help from the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Cardinal Pizzaballa of @LPJerusalem calls for day of prayer to Our Lady for peace on Aug 15:
“After having spent so many words & after having done what we can to help & be close to everyone, especially those who are most affected, all that remains is for us to pray.”… pic.twitter.com/u1OMDDqthX— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) August 12, 2024
The prayer asks Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, and all the saints to beg Our Lord to obtain “reconciliation and peace” not only for the Holy Land but for all humanity.
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