In this story: Palestinians call for Geneva meeting U.S. stands alone with Israel RELATED STORIES, SITES

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. General Assembly called on Israel Tuesday to cease settlement activities in east Jerusalem and other occupied territories.

The nonbinding resolution, sponsored by the United Nation's 22-member Arab group, says Israeli settlement policies on lands captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war "remain contrary to international law."

The resolution passed by a wide margin of 115 to 2, with five abstentions. It demands that Israel adhere to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bars settlements in territories occupied during times of war.

The Palestinians say Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem are unfairly changing the makeup of those areas as negotiations continue about their future status.

They have called for the General Assembly to endorse a July 15 gathering of Fourth Geneva Convention signatories in Switzerland to resolve the settlement issue.

Israel says it observes the humanitarian provisions of the Geneva Convention but disputes whether it applies to the areas in question, on grounds that they were not under a legitimate sovereignty when Israel captured them during The Six-Day War.

Israeli Ambassador Dore Gold told the assembly that the Palestinian initiative was motivated by "narrow political interests" and called the session "a total abuse of the U.N. system."

The United States, which stood alone with Israel in opposing the measure, echoed those views. Acting U.S. Ambassador Peter Burleigh called the move a step toward "politicizing" the Geneva agreement.

"The Palestinians and the Israelis agreed to handle the issues raised today in their negotiations. ... We do not believe that the United Nations or any other body should interfere in that discussion," he said.

Tuesday's emergency session, one day after the death Middle East peacemaker King Hussein, was called by Jordan, alarmed by Jewish housing construction in Arab east Jerusalem.

A 6,500-unit Israeli housing project planned in Har Homa, which the Palestinians call Jabal Abu Ghneim, has come under heavy criticism from the Palestinians, who hope to make east Jerusalem the capital of a future state.

Roughly 210,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem, although Israel says all of Jerusalem will remain its capital.

An estimated 150,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, home to 1.6 million Palestinians. Several thousand Israeli settlers also reside in Gaza, where 1 million Palestinians live.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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