Nigeria, on Friday, joined 138 other nations in endorsing the New York Declaration on the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Applause filled the UN General Assembly Hall as member states backed the declaration on the peaceful resolution of the Palestinian question and the implementation of a two-state solution with Israel.
The New York Declaration followed an international conference held in July at UN Headquarters, co-organised by France and Saudi Arabia, with sessions scheduled to resume later this month.
Out of 193 UN member states, 142 voted in favour of the resolution supporting the document. Israel opposed it, along with nine other countries: Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga and the United States, while 12 countries abstained.
Ahead of the vote, French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont stressed that the New York Declaration “lays out a single roadmap to deliver the two-State solution.”
The roadmap includes an immediate Gaza ceasefire, the release of hostages, the creation of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, disarmament of Hamas, its exclusion from Gaza governance, normalisation of ties between Israel and Arab nations, and collective security guarantees.
Speaking before the Assembly, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the plan, saying, “this one-sided Declaration will not be remembered as a step toward peace, only as another hollow gesture that weakens this Assembly’s credibility.”
He added that “Hamas is the biggest winner of any endorsement here today” and would present it as “the fruit of 7th October.”
The July high-level conference took place amid the war in Gaza and fading prospects for achieving a two-state solution.
At the opening, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirmed the stance that the two-state solution is at the core of peace in the region.
“The central question for Middle East peace is implementation of the two-State solution, where two independent, sovereign, democratic States – Israel and Palestine – live side-by-side in peace and security.”
(NAN)
