New York, New York - With a clear majority of 124 votes on Wednesday, the UN General Assembly has called for Israel's withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories within a year.

Forty-three countries, including Germany, abstained from voting on the corresponding resolution in the largest UN body, which has 193 member states.

Israel itself, along with the US, voted against the draft resolution together with 12 other countries.

Some states did not vote.

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The resolution is intended to enforce a legal opinion on the Middle East conflict issued by the UN's highest court.

In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague had ruled that the occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal and must be ended as soon as possible.

Israel had ignored this, and this is also expected in the context of the resolution that has now been adopted.

Europe was divided in the vote, as in previous votes.

While France, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, Spain, and Norway voted in favor, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands, among others, abstained. The Czech Republic and Hungary voted against the resolution.