End to Israeli occupation demanded

The final result of a vote on the legal consequences of Israel's actions in the Palestinian territories is shown at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. BRYAN SMITH/AFP With the United Nations General Assembly, or UNGA, voting in favor of a resolution demanding an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, experts said the most important contribution of Wednesday's decision was "delegitimizing the occupation" and opening room for potential new political discussions amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. But they cautioned that the international community must remain vigilant, as the current conflict could swiftly transform into a more perilous confrontation, following Israel's declaration of a "new phase of the war" as it takes aim at Hezbollah in Lebanon, expanding from the original goal of eliminating Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and stepping up the military campaign despite existing UN resolutions and advisories. 'New horizons' Further, Yousef said it might encourage many countries to start imposing some restrictions on Israel, redirecting Israel to go for a fruitful political track or "to open new political horizons in the future". Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily that the international community must remain vigilant, for what began as a regional conflict could swiftly transform into a broader, more perilous confrontation, driven by the ambitions of both local actors and global powers alike.