16 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Fifth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday discussed the programme budget implications for the year 2023 for a draft resolution related to Israel's practices in the Palestinian territories.
On Monday, the General Assembly deferred consideration of a draft resolution titled 'Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem' pending a review of its programme budget.
The draft resolution would have the Assembly request the International Court of Justice (ICJ) urgently render an advisory on the legal consequences arising from Israel's prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Occupied Territories since 1967.
The Palestinian Authority submitted the draft resolution via Nicaragua, because Palestine only has an observer status at the UN.
Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid had ordered the formation of a political and security toolbox to confront the Palestinian moves at the UN, claiming "the path to resolving the conflict does not pass through the UN corridors, or other international bodies" warning that the Palestinian move "will have repercussions."
The Palestinians seek to obtain a resolution proving that the Israeli prolonged occupation of the West Bank constitutes clear annexation of Palestinian lands, which is a violation of international law and previous Security Council resolutions.
