New York: The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that Israel has failed to comply with Security Council Resolution 497 of 1981, which demands Israel rescind its decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
The General Assembly resolution, adopted with 92 votes in favor, nine against and 65 abstentions, reiterates that the Israeli decision of Dec. 14, 1981, to annex the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and has no validity whatsoever, as confirmed by the Security Council in its Resolution 497, and calls on Israel to rescind the decision.
Wednesday’s resolution determines once more that the continued occupation of the Golan Heights and its de facto annexation constitute a stumbling block in achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region. It demands Israel withdraw from the entire occupied territory to the line of June 4, 1967, in the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.
The resolution calls on all the parties concerned and the entire international community to exert all the necessary efforts to ensure the resumption of the peace process and its success.
Israel seized parts of the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the occupied territory in 1981. Immediately after the annexation, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 497.
