US blocks Palestinian request for full UN membership | Global News

The United States has blocked a Palestinian bid for full membership at the United Nations, citing the need for a two-state solution to come from direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Despite twelve out of fifteen Security Council members being in favor of the motion, the US vetoed it, with Britain and Switzerland abstaining.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the decision as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified,” while Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, praised the US for blocking the move. The draft resolution recommended the admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the UN.

America’s UN envoy, Robert Wood, pointed to Hamas’s control over Gaza as a key factor in the decision to block the motion, as the group is designated a terrorist organization by many governments, including the US and UK.

The Palestinian Authority, currently a non-member observer state at the UN, must have its bid for full membership approved by the Security Council and at least two-thirds of the General Assembly. Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, territories taken by Israel in 1967.

The UN has long advocated for a two-state solution as the best chance for lasting peace in the region, despite opposition from hardliners in Israel’s right-wing government. The ongoing conflict has resulted in thousands of casualties, with no immediate ceasefire in sight.