The Maldives on Sunday welcomed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)’s adoption of the resolution requesting an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of Israel in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations (UN) , other international organisations and third States.
The resolution seeking the advisory opinion from the UN's top court was brought by Norway, and co-sponsored by the Maldives, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others. It won backing from 137 countries, while 12 objected, and 22 abstained.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said the Maldives believes that this is a crucial step forward to uphold the work and mission of the United Nations, humanitarian organisations and of third States to protect and preserve the humanitarian operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“The Maldives appreciates the overwhelming support for this resolution, and regards the support as a testament to the commitment to realise a sovereign and independent Palestinian State based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the statement said.
Israel, which has tightly restricted aid going into the Hamas-ruled territory since the outbreak of the war, often blames the inability of relief organisations to handle and distribute large quantities of aid for the dire humanitarian situation.
Despite serious international concerns, Israeli lawmakers have passed laws to bar the UN's Palestinian aid agency, UNRWA, from operating in Israel and east Jerusalem, while raising the prospect of similar measures against other aid agencies.