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United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (1967)

A resolution adopted unanimously by the United Nations Security Council on 21 November 1967. The resolution, which referred to the events of the Six Day War, stressed the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”, and required the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict”. Israel claims that the resolution does not require it to withdraw from all territories taken over during the war, including the Golan Heights, West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula (though the latter was ceded to Egypt as part of the peace treaty between the two countries). The resolution further called all states in the area to respect each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, while making no mention of the PLO or the Palestinians. Israel, Egypt and Jordan accepted the resolution immediately, while Syria did so in 1970, following Hafez al-Assad’s rise to power. Resolution 338, adopted following the 1973 War, reiterated Resolution 242. Together, the two resolutions were adopted by the PLO in 1988, and have served as a basis for many later peace initiatives, such as the Oslo Process, the Arab Peace Initiative, the Road Map for Peace and the Geneva Initiative.