New York, September 12 — The United Nations General Assembly will hold a vote today, Friday, on a resolution calling for the establishment of a Hamas-free Palestinian state.
According to the French news agency AFP, the draft resolution — known as the “New York Declaration” — states that Hamas must release all hostages and condemns the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas against civilians.
The text also calls for “collective efforts to end the war in Gaza, and to achieve a just, peaceful, and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of a two-state solution.”
The declaration, already endorsed by the Arab League and signed in July by 17 UN member states including several Arab nations, demands the full removal of Hamas from Gaza’s leadership.
It further states: “In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must relinquish governance of the territory and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority with international cooperation and support, in pursuit of a sovereign Palestinian state.”
The vote comes ahead of the upcoming UN summit in New York on September 22, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France. At this summit, French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to formally recognize the State of Palestine.
Richard Gowan, UN Director at the International Crisis Group, told AFP: “The fact that the General Assembly is ultimately supporting a text that directly condemns Hamas is significant.”
The declaration also proposes, under the mandate of the UN Security Council, the deployment of a “temporary international stabilization mission” in Gaza. Its goal would be to cooperate with the Palestinian civilian population and assist the Palestinian Authority in assuming security responsibilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, reiterated on Thursday: “We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state.”
