Canada abstains from UN motion calling on Israel to end presence of Gaza, West Bank

Canada abstained today from a high-profile United Nations vote demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank within a year.

Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, told the assembly the motion was too one-sided to support, though he said Ottawa agrees that Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territories.

This morning’s non-binding vote passed 124-14, and Canada was among 43 abstentions.

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The State of Palestine brought the motion to the UN General Assembly, and Israel says the vote amounts to “diplomatic terrorism.”

The resolution is based on a July ruling by the International Court of Justice, which condemned Israel’s rule over lands it captured in 1967 by force, saying this violates international laws.

Last December, Canada stopped its decade-long policy of backing Israel in almost any United Nations vote over concerns about the lack of progress toward a humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

— With files from The Associated Press.