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UN Assembly condemns Israelis and Palestinians

The UN General Assembly condemned attacks against Palestinian and Israeli civilians and demanded an immediate end to Israeli incursions in the West Bank and all acts of violence, incitement and destruction.

The resolution Monday night was significantly watered down from the original Palestinian draft, which did not mention attacks on Israeli civilians and called for condemnation of Israeli "atrocities" and "appropriate action against ... perpetrators of war crimes."

The resolution, which is not legally binding, was approved 114-4 with 11 abstentions at the end of a day-long debate in which Israel's occupation -- and recent preoccupation -- of West Bank cities was denounced by many countries in Asia, Africa and the Mideast.

It got the support of the EU, which played a key role in instigating the changes, but not the US, Israel, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.

Israel's deputy UN ambassador Aaron Jacob called the resolution "one-sided" and accused the General Assembly of ignoring "the reality of a relentless Palestinian suicide campaign" and refusing "to allow condemnation of Palestinian terrorism."

Earlier, US Ambassador John Negroponte said the session should have begun "by explicitly condemning terrorist organizations, like Hamas, that are clearly out to sabotage any effort to achieve Arab-Israeli peace."

The debate focused on last week's report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Israel's recent military offensive across the West Bank and the fierce fighting in the Jenin refugee camp where Palestinians claimed 500 people were massacred.

The report said that there was no evidence to back the figure and reported that 52 Palestinian deaths had been confirmed in Jenin -- the same death toll reported by Israel.

It criticized both sides for put-ting civilians at risk and accused Israeli forces and Palestinian militants of violating international law during the Israeli offensive, which began on March 29 after a suicide bombing that killed 29 Israelis.

The resolution demanded an immediate end to Israel's military incursions "and all acts of violence, terror, provocation, incitement and destruction." It also demanded the immediate withdrawal of "Israeli occupying forces" toward positions held before the violence began in September 2000.

"Condemning all attacks against civilians on both sides," the resolution emphasized the need for Israel and the Palestinians "to ensure the safety of civilians and to respect the universally accepted norms of international humanitarian law."

The General Assembly also called for urgent assistance to alleviate "the current dire humanitarian situation facing the Palestinian people," revive the Palestinian economy, support reconstruction and hold democratic elections.
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