Against the backdrop of the grinding conflict in Gaza, a city largely devastated by more than six months of war and a siege on its 2.4 million people, the Security Council is expected to take up the matter of full Palestinian UN membership this Thursday, several diplomatic sources told AFP. The UN earlier appealed for $2.8 billion to provide desperately needed aid.
At least 33,843 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 76,575 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The Palestinians formally revived this April an application first made to the world body in 2011, though the veto-wielding United States has repeatedly expressed opposition to the proposal.
“We sincerely hope after 12 years since we changed our status to an observer state, that the Security Council will elevate itself to implementing the global consensus on the two-state solution by admitting the state of Palestine for full membership,” Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, told reporters Monday.
Algeria, a non-permanent Security Council member, has drafted the resolution recommending full Palestinian membership.
France24 reported that US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at a news conference in Seoul on Wednesday she did not see a UN resolution recommending the Palestinian Authority become a full UN member helping lead to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We do not see that doing a resolution in the Security Council will necessarily get us to a place where we can find … a two-state solution moving forward,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
Under international law, statehood requires a defined territory, a permanent population, a government and the ability to enter into international relations.
The UN security council on Monday agreed to reconsider the bid, with none of its 15 members objecting. The matter was referred to the committee charged with determining whether the proposed state of Palestine qualifies for full membership.
If the committee agrees, the application goes back to the U.N. Security Council, where it requires nine votes, with no veto from any of the five permanent members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China.
If it passes there, it moves to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, where it needs a two-thirds majority, according to the Washington Post.
The United States, Britain and other Group of Seven countries have not recognized a Palestinian state — although France and Britain have indicated this year that they are considering it.
The leaders of Spain, Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia last month said in a joint statement that they would work toward recognition of a Palestinian state when “the circumstances are right.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Tuesday that “the international community is now considering the question of Palestinian statehood as a way of building momentum toward a two-state solution.”