UN General Assembly urges Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories and Golan Heights in major vote

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (2 December 2025) passed two resolutions directing Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza and the Syrian Golan Heights.

Both measures received large majorities opposing Israel’s current territorial policies.

The first resolution, titled “Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine,” passed with 151 votes in favour, 11 against and 11 abstentions. It calls for renewed efforts to restart negotiations on all final-status issues.

It also urges the convening of an international conference in Moscow, in line with a 2008 resolution that reaffirmed the vision of a two-state solution involving Israel and an independent Palestinian state. The text delivers several direct demands on Israel.

It orders Israel to end what it calls its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. ”It also instructs Israel to halt all new settlement construction and evacuate all settlers from the territory.

The resolution rejects changes to Gaza’s demographics or borders. It further calls for Gaza’s immediate political reunification with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.

It restates that Israel must withdraw from all Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. 

It reaffirms Palestinian rights to self-determination and a just solution for refugees.

A second resolution, titled “The Syrian Golan,” passed with 123 votes in favour, 7 against and 41 abstentions. It declares Israel’s 1981 move to apply its laws and administration to the Golan Heights null and void.

The text demands reversal of that decision. It also calls for Israel’s withdrawal to its 1967 border with Syria.

The year 1967 marks Israel’s capture of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War. 

The UN has since regarded these areas as occupied territories whose status cannot be changed unilaterally.

The resolution on the Palestinian territories reflects decades of UN positions affirming that settlement activity has no legal validity. 

Similarly, the Syrian Golan resolution reiterates the UN’s view that the 1981 application of Israeli law constitutes an unlawful annexation.

Unlike resolutions from the UN Security Council, these General Assembly texts are not legally binding.

 Although the Palestinian Territories participate in several UN bodies, the UN as a whole does not recognise a sovereign Palestinian state.

In separate developments on Wednesday, Israel stated that it would partially reopen the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. 

The step forms part of its current ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for coordinating policy in the Palestinian Territories, announced that the crossing would open “exclusively for the exit of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.” No indication was given of when broader movement may resume.