The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on Friday regarding a Palestinian request for full UN membership, a move anticipated to be blocked by the United States.
The draft resolution recommends admitting the State of Palestine to the United Nations. It requires at least nine votes in favor, without any veto from the US, Britain, France, Russia, or China. Algeria, a council member, proposed the resolution and had initially sought a vote for Thursday afternoon, coinciding with a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.
US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reiterated that an independent Palestinian state should be established through direct negotiations between the parties, rather than via a Security Council resolution. The Palestinians, currently a non-member observer state since 2012, seek full UN membership, which requires approval from the Security Council and a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly.
The Security Council has historically supported a two-state solution, with Palestinians aspiring to statehood in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. However, progress toward Palestinian statehood has been limited since the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s. The Palestinian membership bid comes amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Israel's expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The draft resolution recommends admitting the State of Palestine to the United Nations. It requires at least nine votes in favor, without any veto from the US, Britain, France, Russia, or China. Algeria, a council member, proposed the resolution and had initially sought a vote for Thursday afternoon, coinciding with a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.
US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reiterated that an independent Palestinian state should be established through direct negotiations between the parties, rather than via a Security Council resolution. The Palestinians, currently a non-member observer state since 2012, seek full UN membership, which requires approval from the Security Council and a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly.
The Security Council has historically supported a two-state solution, with Palestinians aspiring to statehood in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. However, progress toward Palestinian statehood has been limited since the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s. The Palestinian membership bid comes amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Israel's expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
