On Monday, forty nations urged Israel to lift the sanctions it imposed on the Palestinian Authority earlier this month as a result of its efforts to obtain an advisory opinion from the UN’s highest court regarding the Israeli occupation.
A resolution requesting an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the issue of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories was passed by the UN General Assembly on December 30.
Israel responded by imposing a number of sanctions, including financial ones, on the Palestinian Authority on January 6 to make it “pay the price” for advocating for the resolution.
“deep concern regarding the Israeli government’s decision to impose punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership, and civil society following the request by the General Assembly,” forty United Nations member states stated in a statement to journalists on Monday, reiterating their “unwavering support” for the ICJ and international law.
The members stated, “We reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice and more broadly in response to a resolution of the General Assembly, and call for their immediate reversal,” regardless of each nation’s position on the resolution.
Countries that supported this resolution (Algeria, Argentina, Belgium, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, and others) as well as those that abstained (Japan, France, and South Korea) and voted against (Germany and Estonia) have signed the statement.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement, “This is significant as it shows that regardless of how countries have voted, they are united in rejecting these punitive measures.”
When asked about the statement from the members, a UN secretary-general spokeswoman said that Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” about “recent Israeli measures against the Palestinian Authority” and that “there should be no retaliation” in relation to the ICJ.
Wednesday will see a meeting of the UN Security Council on the Palestinian issue.
Following the visit of an Israeli minister to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Temple Mount in Judaism, a previous meeting this month resulted in a heated argument between Israeli and Palestinian diplomats.
