UN Human Rights Council adopts resolutions against Israel, in favor of Palestine

GENEVA – The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted three resolutions in favor of Palestine. One of these has condemned the actions of Jewish settlers in occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

Thirty-five resolutions were accepted on the final day of the Council’s 49th session from February 28 to April 1 at the UN office in Geneva.

Pakistan had put forward resolutions regarding Israel and Palestine on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. All resolutions were passed by a substantial majority of votes.

“In a resolution on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the council reaffirmed the Palestinian people’s right to live in freedom, justice, and dignity and the right to their independent State of Palestine,” said the Council.

States were called to ensure their obligations of not recognizing, aiding or assisting Israel as long as these serious breaches of norms of international law are committed and to adopt measures to ensure the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people.

There was another resolution on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan.

The Council reaffirmed that Israeli settlements established in 1967 in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan were illegal under international law.

It said they constituted a significant obstacle to achieving the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

In a resolution on human rights in the Golan Heights, the Council deplored the practices of the Israeli authorities affecting the human rights of Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights.

The report submitted to the Council by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the increase in the number of Jewish settlements, violations of the rights of the settlers and the destruction of private properties in the settlements were given comprehensive coverage.

The report, which deals with illegal settlement activities between November 1, 2020, and October 31, 2021, said Israelis increased the number of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The report said the number of private properties destroyed by Israel in occupied Palestinian territories reached the highest ever recorded by the UN, while it noted that Israeli Security Forces did not protect Palestinians in the face of settler violence.