India supports UN resolution against Israeli settlements in Palestine

India has voted in favour of a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine, reported PTI on Monday.

The draft resolution, titled “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan”, was passed on November 9 by the Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee) of the United Nations General Assembly.

While 145 nations voted in favour of the resolution, seven voted against it and 18 abstained.

India was joined by Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, France, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the UK, among others, for condemning settlement activities in Palestine.

The UN resolution also condemns “the disruption of the livelihood of protected persons, the forced transfer of civilians and the annexation of land, whether de facto or through national legislation”.

It further reaffirmed that the Israeli settlements in Palestine were “illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development”.

The United States, along with Canada, Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru voted, against the resolution.

This comes as Israel’s war on Gaza entered its seventh week on Monday. At least 11,078 Palestinians, including 4,506 children, had been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza till Saturday. The Gaza health ministry has been unable to update the toll since then, reported the Associated Press.

The Israeli...

Read more