UN General Assembly backs two-state solution for Palestine with overwhelming majority

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly voted to endorse a declaration outlining “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of a meeting of world leaders.

The seven-page declaration is the result of an international conference at the UN in July — hosted by Saudi Arabia and France — on the decades-long conflict.

The United States and Israel boycotted the event.

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The resolution was approved by a large majority: 142 countries voted in favour, 10 opposed and 12 abstained, according to UN records.

The declaration urges an immediate end to the fighting in Gaza and calls for a coordinated global effort to achieve a just, peaceful and durable settlement through implementation of the two-state framework.

It also demands the release of all Palestinian prisoners and calls on Hamas to disarm, relinquish its control of Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority as part of steps to enable the creation of an independent Palestinian state.