UN backs ‘New York Declaration’ for Palestine with 142 votes, India votes in favour

The United Nations General Assembly on September 12 overwhelmingly backed a declaration outlining "tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps" towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, ahead of a meeting of world leaders.

The seven-page declaration stems from an international conference at the UN in July, hosted by Saudi Arabia and France, on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event.

India voted in favour of the 'New York Declaration,' which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The resolution secured 142 votes in favor, 10 against, and 12 abstentions.

The vote comes ahead of a UN summit in New York on September 22, co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to formally recognize Palestine.

The declaration, endorsed by the 193-member General Assembly, condemned the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, as well as Israeli strikes on civilians and infrastructure in Gaza, along with the siege and starvation that have caused a "devastating humanitarian catastrophe and protection crisis."

It also raised the prospect of a "temporary international stabilization mission" under UN Security Council mandate, aimed at supporting Palestinian civilians and transferring security responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority.