Palestine on Thursday welcomed the United Nations’ vote in favour of a resolution affirming its right to sovereignty over its natural resources.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said in a statement, a copy of which was received by Anadolu Agency, that “the occupation has no sovereignty over the land of the state of Palestine or any of its cities.”
He added, “Voting in favour of this resolution confirms the right of the Palestinian people and their sovereignty over their natural resources, including land, water and energy resources.”
Al-Maliki called on Israel to “stop exploiting the natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
He also called on the international community to “work to oblige the occupation to implement international resolutions and ensure the freedom of the Palestinian people to benefit from their natural resources.”
On Thursday, the United Nations Committee on Economic and Financial Questions adopted; the Second Committee, a draft resolution titled “Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.”
A statement by the Palestine Mission to the United Nations stated that 157 countries voted in favour of the resolution, while 7 countries opposed it—the United States, Israel, Canada, Nairobi, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, and 14 countries abstained from voting.
According to the statement, the decision “is part of a package of resolutions adopted by the United Nations for the benefit of the Palestinian people on an annual basis.”
