United Nations General Assembly Adopts 5 Resolutions in Favor of Palestine and Extends UNRWA Mandate

The United Nations General Assembly issued five resolutions supporting the rights of the Palestinian people, including a resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for another three years.

The official Palestinian news agency "Wafa" reported that the first resolution, concerning assistance to Palestinian refugees, was supported by 151 countries, while 10 countries opposed it, and 14 countries abstained from voting.

As for the second resolution, which concerns UNRWA operations and includes extending its mandate for three years, it received the approval of 145 countries, compared to the objection of 10 countries, and the abstention of 18 countries from voting.

In a related context, the Israeli Knesset had approved in October 2024 laws preventing UNRWA from carrying out any activity inside Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, withdrawing privileges and facilities from it, and preventing any official contact with it. This decision came into effect at the end of last January.

It is worth noting that UNRWA was established by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, and was tasked with providing assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where it provides relief, health and education services to nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees.

In another context, 157 countries supported the third resolution related to the properties of Palestinian refugees and the income derived from them, while 10 countries opposed it, and 9 countries abstained from voting, according to "Wafa".

As for the fourth resolution regarding the work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People, it received the support of 88 countries, the objection of 19 countries, and the abstention of 64 countries from voting.

The fifth resolution related to Israeli settlements in the occupied territory, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan, was also supported by 146 countries, opposed by 13 countries, and 17 countries abstained from voting.

Although the resolutions of the General Assembly are not legally binding, they reflect the trends of the international community regarding the Palestinian issue.

The adoption of these resolutions comes two years after the Israeli war on Gaza, which began on October 8, 2023 and ended with a ceasefire on October 10, which left more than 70,000 Palestinian martyrs, and more than 171,000 wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to massive destruction that the United Nations estimated the cost of reconstruction at about 70 billion dollars.

In conjunction with that, the West Bank witnessed an Israeli escalation, where attacks by the army and settlers resulted in the martyrdom of at least 1,088 Palestinians, and the injury of about 11,000, in addition to the arrest of more than 21,000 people, since the start of the war on Gaza.