The resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly with 87 votes for, 26 against, and 53 abstentions.

The text urges the UN court based in The Hague, Netherlands, to determine "the legal consequences of Israel's continuing violation of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination", as well as its measures "to change the composition demographics, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem".

Western states were divided on the issue, while Arab countries voted unanimously in favor, including those that had normalized relations with Israel.

China and Russia also voted in favor of the text.

Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour said the vote sends a signal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government about its willingness to reinforce "colonial and racist" policies and hailed states that did not stand up. not be "deterred by threats and pressure".

A vote also welcomed on Saturday by the Palestinian Authority: "the time has come for Israel to submit to the law and to be held responsible for the crimes it commits against our people", declared Nabil Abou Roudeïneh, door -spoken by the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

A call to end settlements

Ahead of the vote, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the resolution a "moral stain on the UN".

“No international organization can decide whether the Jewish people are occupiers in their own native land,” he added.

"Any decision by a judicial organization that receives its mandate from a politicized and morally bankrupt United Nations is completely illegitimate," he said.

The resolution also calls on Israel to put an end to the settlements, but the General Assembly does not have binding powers, unlike the Security Council where the United States, allies of Israel, have a right of veto.

The US, UK, and Germany opposed the resolution and France abstained.

"We don't think a referral to the International Court of Justice will help bring stakeholders back to dialogue," British diplomat Thomas Phipps said.

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