U.N. Draft Resolution Sets Deadline for End of Occupation of Palestine

Washington Informer October 2, 2014

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In this July 29, 2014 file photo, smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City. The Israeli military said Wednesday, Sept. 10, it has opened criminal investigations into two high-profile cases involving Palestinian civilian casualties in this summer's Gaza war, in an apparent attempt to head off international investigations into its conduct. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)

In this July 29, 2014 file photo, smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)

(Al-Arabiya News) – A Palestinian-Arab U.N. draft resolution demands Israel end its occupation of Palestinian lands captured since 1967, including east East Jerusalem, by November 2016.

Israeli withdrawal must begin “as rapidly as possible and to be fully completed within a specified timeframe, not to exceed November 2016, and the achievement of the independence and sovereignty of the State of Palestine and the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people,” the text of the document reads.

Al Arabiya’s New York bureau chief Talal al-Haj said Arab officials discussed the draft resolution on Tuesday and that it could see minor amendments before possibly putting it to a vote at the U.N. Security Council.

Al-Haj said the draft bill may not be sent to the Security Council if the Arab group senses that it will likely be killed by a veto power as in previous cases.