UNITED NATIONS: The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognising a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body.

It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership” of the UN.

Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.

“The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgement that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the council.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas condemned the US veto in a statement as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified”. Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour, at times emotional, told the council after the vote: “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination. We will not stop in our effort.”

The Palestinian push for full UN membership came six months since the Gaza crisis unfolded and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal.

‘Start with Gaza’

The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. But an application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council and then at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.

“We believe that such recognition of Palestinian statehood should not come at the start of a new process, but it doesn’t have to be at the very end of the process. We must start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza,” Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council.

The UN Security Council has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognised borders. Palestinians want a state in occupied West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.

Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama argued before the vote that admitting Palestinians to the United Nations would strengthen rather than undermine the two-state solution, adding: “Peace will come from Palestine’s inclusion, not from its exclusion.”

The Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmud Abbas, exercises limited self-rule in West Bank. Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in Gaza in 2007.

Hamas condemned the US stance in a statement and called on the international community to “support the struggle of our Palestinian people and their legitimate right to determine their destiny”.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024