For the past 80 years, since the end of the Second World War, when the UN was formed, leaders of 193 member states have assembled every autumn to discuss and vote on a range of international issues covered in the UN Charter, among other significant decisions taken at the forum.
This year will mark an especially consequential session at its New York headquarters. In recent months, key countries in the West have expressed their intention to recognise the State of Palestine at this year's General Assembly. It’s worth nothing that many are allies and partners of Israel, including Security Council members such as the UK and France, as well as other nations like Australia and Canada. The effort to galvanise countries around recognition, led by Saudi Arabia and France, has Arab and wider international support.
The whole point of the UN's existence, as the first chapter of the UN Charter states, is to "maintain international peace and security" and to conform with "the principles of justice and international law". As a month of these crucial high-level UN meetings begin, it is worth reminding member states of those principles, especially those that are sitting on the fence. Refraining from condemning Israel's actions is in effect endorsing its continued killings.
Needless to say, recognising statehood will not automatically pave the way towards permanent peace or a two-state solution. Contrary to values espoused in the US Charter, the current Israeli government continues to oversee the killing and brutalising of Palestinians in Gaza and the relentless grabbing of land in the West Bank. Nonetheless, if UN members cannot unanimously condemn these atrocities – as they rightfully also did the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023 – the effectiveness of the UN and its very premise of maintaining peace and security in the world will understandably be questioned.
There are already proposals on the table to end the Palestine-Israel conflict, including the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative that offers a path to a two-state solution, and the 2025 Cairo Peace Plan for post-war reconstruction and governance of Gaza. By not only failing to respond to these proposals, but also opting for conflict in the occupied territories with the stated intention of annexing them, Israel has invited condemnation from friends and foes alike.
Just last week, the UAE said that the Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank would constitute a red line for the UAE and undermine the vision and spirit of the Abraham Accords, which moved the region closer to peace than it had been for decades.
Addressing the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that "annexation by Israel of Palestinian land, if pursued, would not only close the door to peace and integration, it would betray the very spirit of the Abraham Accords". She added: "For the UAE, this is not a matter of politics alone. It is a matter of principle, and it is a matter of peace for our region."
But with Israel assured of US diplomatic, financial and military support, despite its deepening and sustained offensive against Palestinians in the occupied territories, it is incumbent on the rest of the western world to move beyond rhetoric and use the enormous influence it still has over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to force it to end its hostilities and return to the path of diplomacy.
This could be a make-or-break moment for the UN and its member states. The UN cannot afford to fail its most challenging test yet. If there is genuine conviction in the international rules-based order and international rule of law, all member states need to speak with one voice on the immediate end to the nearly two-year-long onslaught in Gaza and the resumption of the Middle East peace process.
On Monday, Ms Nusseibeh said: "We need to build something better and more durable out of the ashes." That is an unambiguous call the international community should get behind, with no further delay.
