Palestine slams US envoy over full UN membership bid

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestine on Wednesday criticized the US opposition to a Palestinian application to become a full UN member.

US Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that having a full membership of Palestine in the UN would not help reach a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“The stability of Palestine is the only gateway that leads to stability in the region and the world,” Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.

“Thomas-Greenfield's statement is not up to the US position that speaks about a two-state solution and establishing a just peace based on international resolutions,” he added.

The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the 193-member UN General Assembly in 2012.

“The Palestinian people have the right to obtain full membership,” Abu Rudeineh said.

The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on a draft resolution for Palestine to become a full UN member.

The resolution requires nine votes in favor to pass with a condition that none of the five permanent members - the US, the UK, France, Russia and China - votes against.

The Palestinian application for full UN membership comes amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 33,900 people since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which claimed 1,200 lives.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while over 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar