A UN General Assembly resolution on the right of the Palestinian people to self‑determination was approved on Friday by a recorded vote of 158 member states in favor, 6 against (US, israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau) and 10 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Guatemala, Honduras, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, Togo, Tonga).

In a press release, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem appreciated the position of the countries that supported the resolution with an overwhelming majority vote, affirming that such support vindicated further the isolation of the US administration that “insisted on standing against the Palestinian rights and the international will.”

Spokesman Qasem reiterated the Palestinian people’s right to liberate their land, return to their homes and areas they were expelled from, resist the occupation, and establish their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.