Quarterly Updates for (16 Aug 2018 — 31 Dec 2018)

                On 17 October the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to confirm the State of Palestine as the next chair of the Group of 77 and China (see Intra-Palestinian Relations). Then in November, in 2 separate sessions (11/17 and 11/30) the UNGA passed 12 resolutions in support of Palestine and 2 calling for Israel to end its occupation of the Golan Heights. A week later a U.S.-sponsored resolution condemning Hamas for firing rockets at Israel failed to gain the two-thirds majority it needed. The resolution, which was referring to the latest flare in violence earlier in November, did not mention Israel’s heavy bombardment of Gaza (see Palestinian-Israeli Conflict and Intra-Palestinian Relations). As the year was ending Palestinian officials announced that Palestine was initiating (26/12) its application to become a full member of the United Nations (UN), an application which probably will fail to pass the UN Security Council as the U.S. has veto power in that UN body (see Intra-Palestinian Relations).

                The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) announced (12/19) that due to a lack of funding it had to cut aid for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank in 2019. Stephen Kearney, the WFP country director in Palestine, attributed the lack of funding to cuts by the U.S. The WFP announcement came 2 days after the UN and the Palestinian Authority (PA) had asked for $350 million in humanitarian aid for 2019. The WFP said that it needed $57 million to maintain its current levels for 2019. The WFP announcement also comes as the U.S. has slashed all funding for Palestinians including hundreds of millions for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) (see United States and Donors). 

                The UN’s judicial organ, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), received a complaint from the State of Palestine on 28 September over the U.S. move of its embassy to Jerusalem and its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The complaint, which argues that the U.S. is in violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, prompted the U.S. to withdraw (10/3) from the ‘optional protocol’ that allows states to seek arbitration in cases such as the one Palestine was bringing to the ICJ.

                For information on the U.S. and Israel pulling out of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and Marc Lamont Hill’s speech at the UN see United States. For information on PA president Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the UN see Intra-Palestinian Relations.