After more than a year of indiscriminate bombardment of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the UN General Assembly passed a new resolution calling for the official creation of a Palestinian state. The resolution passed with 175-8 votes (the US and Israel voted No, with 7 member states abstaining), conveying “unwavering support, in accordance with established international law, for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine”. The assembly also called for the withdrawal of the Israeli Defence Forces from the West Bank and Gaza. 

The assembly noted how important it is for the two states to be “living side by side in peace and security within the recognised borders, based on the pre-1967 border, alongside the “realisation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self determination and the right to their independent state”. This under-reported resolution followed the issuance of arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders, including current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant. This narrative represents a shift in favour of accountability for crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As of November 2024, the State of Palestine is recognised as a sovereign territory by 146 member states of the United Nations, or just over 75% of all UN Members. Despite an encouraging shift towards holding the perpetrators of war crimes to account and establishing foundations of security and peace, many states, especially in Europe, refuse to recognise the Palestinian state. Domestic and grassroots  pressures in favour of recognition are constrained by entrenched diplomatic ties with Israel. For example, Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said that recognising the Palestinian state would significantly jeopardise the UK’s relationship with the US. Other states in Europe have been more willing to exercise their sovereignty. Spain, Norway and Ireland agreed to recognise the Palestinian state in May 2024, alongside the induction of the Palestinian state to various committee rights in the UN General Assembly. 

Alongside international pressure from the UN, further statements of recognition have come from Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK. Zomlot stated that the UK is one of the few nations in the world which can fill the leadership vacuum, and bring an end to the genocide in Gaza through arms embargoes and sanctions, echoing Amnesty International’s report which concluded Israel’s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories met the legal threshold for genocide. States must move beyond shallow expressions of guilt and, in line with the UN General Assembly, take principled and meaningful actions towards the prevention of genocide.