RAMALLAH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Friday welcomed the United Nations vote in favor of a draft resolution affirming the Palestinians' sovereignty over their natural resources.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a press statement sent to Xinhua that the vote of the UN General Assembly Second Committee included the Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem and the Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

"Voting in favor of this resolution affirms the rights of the Palestinian people and their sovereignty over their natural resources, including land, water, and energy resources," he said.

Al-Maliki called on Israel, "the occupying power, to cease the exploitation, damage, and actions that cause loss, depletion and endangerment of the natural resources of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem."

On Friday, 157 UN member states voted in favor of the resolution, seven against and 14 abstained.

The resolution called on Israel to halt all actions harming the environment including those by Israeli settlers, such as dumping all kinds of waste materials, in the Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan.

Palestine's envoy to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said the approval of the draft "represents the international community's clear commitment to international law and rights of the Palestinians and the Syrians over their natural resources." Enditem

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