U.N. draft resolution sets deadline for end of occupation of Palestine

A Palestinian-Arab U.N. draft resolution demands Israel end its occupation of Palestinian lands captured since 1967, including east East Jerusalem, by November 2016.

Israeli withdrawal must begin “as rapidly as possible and to be fully completed within a specified timeframe, not to exceed November 2016, and the achievement of the independence and sovereignty of the State of Palestine and the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people,” the text of the document reads.

Al Arabiya’s New York bureau chief Talal al-Haj said Arab officials discussed the draft resolution on Tuesday and that it could see minor amendments before possibly putting it to a vote at the U.N. Security Council.

Al-Haj said the draft bill may not be sent to the Security Council if the Arab group senses that it will likely be killed by a veto power as in previous cases.

The Arab group at the U.N. previously drafted two resolutions – one about the war in Gaza and another on the Israeli sentiments –but they were never put to a vote after it was clear that the United States was likely to veto them.

The current draft resolution also calls “upon all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949.”

It also “demands an end to all Israeli military operations, reprisals, forced displacement of civilians, and all acts of violence and hostilities” and a “complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.”