TÁNAISTE AND MINISTER for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has welcomed today’s UN General Assembly resolution that demanded Israel end its unlawful occupation of Palestine and withdraw its forces within 12 months. 

“The occupation must be brought to an end,” Martin said in a statement. 

The General Assembly passed a resolution put forward by the Palestinian delegation – the first since it was granted new rights in the UN earlier this year – which came after an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice that in July ruled the Israeli occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank “unlawful”. 

The resolution also included a demand that other states suspend military support to Israel that could be used by occupation forces. 

The occupied Palestinian territories, sometimes called the OPT, have been under Israeli military control since the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. 

Israel has denounced the resolution as “cynical” and “distorted”.

“I remain convinced that implementation of the two-State solution is the only way to establish lasting peace and security for both Israel and Palestine,” the Tánaiste said, adding that the opinion of the ICJ “largely confirms the Government’s own legal analysis”.

“Ireland co-sponsored and voted in favour of this Resolution. We, as the international community, must now turn our minds to implementation.”

He said the implications of the ICJ advisory opinion “require careful consideration at both national and EU level” and that today’s General Assembly resolution “provides a firm basis for these reflections”. 

“The European Union must be consistent in upholding the rules-based international order,” he said, adding that he would raise the issue with EU counterparts at a UN meeting in New York next week.

“I am under no illusions as to the complexity and the challenges that this will entail. We must not shy away from the need to ensure compliance with international law. The occupation must be brought to an end.

“I also see no contradiction between supporting this Resolution and Ireland’s efforts, alongside likeminded partners, to promote the implementation of the two-State solution. 

“Indeed, these efforts are intensifying, and will be a central priority for the Government throughout its engagement at UN High Level Week.”

In the same statement, the Tánaiste also called on all parties to bring the ongoing violence in the Middle East to an end, in light of the waves of explosions seen in Lebanon yesterday and today.

“I call for calm and restraint, and for de-escalation on all sides. It is time for the killing and the bombardment in the Middle East to stop.”