THE UN general assembly’s Wednesday night vote overwhelmingly demanded that Israel ends its “unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) within 12 months.

There were 124 votes in favour and 14 against, including Israel and its closest ally the United States, along with 43 abstentions, including Britain.

The resolution demands that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the OPT … [in] no later than 12 months” and that it must “comply without delay with all its legal obligations under international law.”

And it urges countries to impose sanctions on those responsible for maintaining Israel’s presence in the territories and halt arms exports to Israel if they are suspected of being used there.

The resolution is based on the July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that Israel’s occupation of the OPT is unlawful. It is non-binding.

But UN Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour called the vote a turning point “in our struggle for freedom and justice.

“It sends a clear message that Israel’s occupation must end as soon as possible and that the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination must be realised,” he said.

His Israeli counterpart denounced it as “diplomatic terrorism.”

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jewish Israelis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967.

The vote comes as Israel’s war on Gaza nears the one-year mark with more than 4,000 people killed in the strip, as well as increased levels of violence in the West Bank.

A UN committee today slammed Israel for committing “severe violations” of children’s rights across the OPTs, saying its war violated the terms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Rights of the Child committee vice-chairman Bragi Gudbrandsson said: “The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique.

“This is an extremely dark place in history.

“I don’t think we have seen before a violation that is so massive as we’ve seen in Gaza.”

At least four people were killed in an attack on a house in Jabalia in Gaza today as dozens of other deadly assaults were made by Israel, including homes in the Bureij camp.

Israeli forces also carried out a raid in Qabatiya near Jenin in the West Bank, killing at least three Palestinians after it opened fire towards a house.

The forces arrested 35 people — including a journalist — in other raids across the West Bank.