UNITED
NATIONS
A
      General Assembly
A/RES/38/144
19 December 1983
38/144. Permanent sovereignty over national resources
in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories


The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 37/135 of 17 December 1982,

Recalling also its previous resolutions on permanent sovereignty over natural resources,

Bearing in mind the relevant principles of international law and the provisions of the international conventions and regulations, in particular Convention IV of The Hague of 1907,1/ and the fourth Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949,2/ concerning the obligations and responsibilities of the occupying Power,

Bearing in mind also the pertinent provisions of its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programmme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, and 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on permanent sovereignty over national resources in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories;3/

2. Commends the report of the Secretary-General on the implications, under international law, of the United Nations resolutions on permanent sovereignty over natural resources, in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories and on the obligations of Israel concerning its conduct in these territories;4/

3. Condemns Israel for its exploitation of the national resources of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories;

4. Reaffirms that Convention IV of The Hague of 1907 and the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 are applicable to the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories;

5. Emphasizes the right of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples whose territories are under Israeli occupation to full and effective permanent sovereignty and control over their natural and all other resources, wealth and economic activities;

6. Also reaffirms that all measures undertaken by Israel to exploit the human, natural and all other resources, wealth and economic activities in the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories are illegal, and calls upon Israel to desist immediately from such measures;

7. Further reaffirms the right of the Palestinian and other Arab peoples subjected to Israeli aggression and occupation to the restitution of and full compensation for the exploitation, depletion and loss of and damages to their natural, human and all other resources, wealth and economic activities, and calls upon Israel to meet their just claims;

8. Calls upon all States to support the Palestinian and other Arab peoples in the exercise of their above-mentioned rights;

9. Calls upon all States, international organizations, specialized agencies, business corporations and all other institutions not to recognize, or co-operate with or assist in any manner in, any measures undertaken by Israel to exploit the national resources of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories or to effect any changes in the demographic composition, the character and form of use of their natural resources or the institutional structure of those territories;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to elaborate on his report 4/ in order to cover also, in detail, the resources exploited by the Israeli settlements and the Israeli-imposed regulations and policies hampering the economic development of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including a comparison between the practices of Israel and its obligations under international law;

11. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit the detailed report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session through the Economic and Social Council.


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1/ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907 (New York, Oxford University Press, 1915), p. 100.

2/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973, p. 287.

3/ A/38/282-E/1983/84.

4/ A/38/265-E/1983/85.