U.N. votes to ask ICJ opinion on Israel’s occupation

The United Nations’ decolonization committee adopted a draft Palestinian resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on
Israel’s prolonged occupation.
The resolution approved at U.N. headquarters in New York asks that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “urgently” weigh in on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory”, which it said were violating the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – areas that Palestinians want for a state – in a 1967 Middle East war. U.S.-sponsored negotiations stalled in 2014.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a statement that 98 countries supported the resolution, 52 abstained and 17 voted against.
Al-Maliki welcomed the vote and described the resolution as a “diplomatic and legal breakthrough” that will “open a new era for holding Israel accountable for its war crimes”.