On 22 September, several states recognized, or announced plans to recognize, the State of Palestine during a United Nations conference co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France, following the UN General Assembly’s endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution on 12 September. While the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) recognizes this resolution as a significant diplomatic milestone, it raises serious concerns regarding Israel’s impunity for its war crimes and the international community’s failure to uphold the rights of Palestinians.
‘Recognizing the Palestinian state is a positive step, but largely meaningless without tangible measures to stop Israel’s ongoing violations. While states promise Palestinians statehood, many of them continue to support Israel’s atrocities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Sustainable peace and true statehood cannot be achieved while the slaughter continues unabated in Gaza and illegal land grab escalates in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,’ says Ziad Abdeltawab, Executive Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS).
The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution endorsing the New York Declaration, with 142 in favor, 10 against and 12 abstentions. Several states, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Belgium and France, have formally recognized the State of Palestine or announced plans to do so, while approximately 80% of UN member states recognize the State of Palestine. Nevertheless, a few states continue to support Israel’s occupation and crimes under international law through military funding and trade relations, including the arms trade, in violation of their international legal obligations. States have largely failed to implement multiple International Court of Justice (ICJ) decisions and arrest warrants adopted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former Minister of Defense of Israel, Yoav Gallant, in the context of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel and Palestine from at least 7 October 2023, while the United States continues to unconditionally support Israel, including by sanctioning ICC judges and the ICC prosecutor for engaging in efforts to prosecute US and Israeli citizens, on 20 August 2025.
The New York Declaration acknowledges Israel’s violations, including its ongoing occupation, illegal settlements, and land annexation, and its attacks on civilians including deliberate starvation and obstruction of humanitarian aid. The declaration also condemns the Hamas attack on 7 October and called for the immediate end of the war, the release of hostages and exchange of Palestinian prisoners, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Yet the declaration fails to explicitly hold Israel to account or provide any tangible measures to end Israel’s ongoing genocide and land annexation in the OPT. Instead, it emphasized the normalization of relations with Israel, at a time when diplomatic pressure, sanctions and arms embargoes are critical to halting ongoing violations and achieving sustainable peace. In doing so, the international community continues to fail not only the Palestinian people, but also the international legal system, providing Israel with near total impunity to egregiously transgress international law. This failure is particularly alarming given Israel’s continued illegal settlement expansion and land annexation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories/
Israeli officials have blatantly rejected the resolution, which has come less than a day after its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, during a visit to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, said ‘We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us’. On 20 August, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: ‘The Palestinian state is being erased. Not with slogans, but with actions. The world will have nothing left to recognize’ referring to the E1 settlement plan which will bisect the West Bank, and further entrench its apartheid system and occupation. These statements not only reflect Israel’s rejection of a two-state solution, but also its intention to annex all Palestinian territories.
Accountability and recognition abroad must be matched by legitimacy and reform at home. During the UN conference on 22 September, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, also made the case that his government is prepared to lead the future of the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian Authority has a responsibility to announce a clear timeline for radical institutional reform to ensure that state institutions serve the best interests of citizens. Repealing laws that severely undermines the independence of the judiciary, press and association; reforming the security apparatus under a single chain of command; holding free and fair municipal, legislative and presidential elections; institutional accountability, and the protection of civil and political rights are essential to complementing international recognition and lay the foundation for a sovereign, democratic, and peaceful Palestine.
- Background
On 16 September 2025, the UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in a report that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. As of 17 September, Israeli forces continue heavy bombardments across Gaza, displacing hundreds of thousands and destroying entire neighborhoods with controlled detonations. According to official numbers from the Gazan Ministry of Health, which are severely underreported, Israel has killed over 65,000 Palestinians and injured over 165,000 in Gaza – including 432 who died from starvation, 146 of them children, and at least 2,319 people who were seeking assistance.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) adopted multiple decisions ordering Israel to refrain from acts prohibited by the Genocide Convention, after finding a plausible case of genocide, and calling on states to ensure the prevention, suppression and punishment of this crime. In July 2024, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately end its occupation of Palestinian territories and affirmed the obligation of other states to refrain from relations with Israel that may entrench or help maintain its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In November 2024, the ICC adopted arrest warrants against the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former Minister of Defense of Israel, Yoav Gallant, in the context of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel and Palestine from at least 7 October 2023. Instead of pressuring Israel to comply, some states have announced their intention to disregard these legally binding decisions.
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