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The United States will vote later Thursday against a U.N. Security Council resolution that would grant a Palestinian state full U.N. membership, overturning a proposal proposed by Algeria.
“The United States is voting no on this proposed Security Council resolution,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said, adding that Washington views direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians as “the most appropriate path.” faster” towards a Palestinian state.
The 15-member council will vote later Thursday on the resolution calling for full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations General Assembly. It requires nine votes and no vetoes from the permanent members of the Security Council, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
The American opposition leaves the resolution without prospect of success.
“Premature actions in New York, even with the best of intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people,” Patel said.
Arab states and Palestinians have pushed the United States and other Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state and grant full membership in the United Nations, a sign of their commitment to a two-state solution. They see the move as essential to any broader settlement of the crisis sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas. Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council, already recognize Palestine as a state.
The UN General Assembly granted the Palestinians non-member observer status in 2012, but the Security Council and at least two-thirds of the General Assembly must approve full membership in the ‘UN.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he supported “good faith efforts” to find “lasting peace” between Israel and a sovereign Palestinian state.
Ziad Abu Amr, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, said full membership would not jeopardize possible negotiations.
“To those who say that recognition of the Palestinian state must be done through negotiations and not through a UN resolution, we say: ‘How was the State of Israel created? Was it not through a UN resolution, which was resolution 181? »
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, said full Palestinian membership would be a “price for terrorists” and would make “any future negotiations almost impossible.”
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank. He ruled Gaza until 2007, when he was ousted by Hamas.
The Algerian proposal comes just over six months after Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza, in response to the group’s October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. The Israeli offensive in the enclave has left more than 33,000 dead, according to the Palestinian authorities.
The United States has often used its Security Council veto to prevent the adoption of resolutions critical of Israel, its close Middle East ally, but last month proposed its own measure calling for a ceasefire. -immediate fire in Gaza, while Washington is increasingly concerned about the humanitarian toll. Russia and China vetoed the US initiative, calling it “hypocritical”.