The United Nations General Assembly votes to support Palestine gaining full membership

Today, Friday, the United Nations General Assembly is expected to support the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to obtain full membership in the United Nations, by recognizing the right to join and sending the request again to the UN Security Council “to reconsider the matter positively.”

The Palestinians renewed their efforts to gain full membership in the United Nations, after the United States used its veto in the Security Council last month.

The vote, which will be conducted by 193 member states in the General Assembly, today, Friday, will be considered a global poll of the support enjoyed by the Palestinians. Usually, a request to become a full member requires the approval of the Security Council first and then the General Assembly.

Although the General Assembly alone cannot grant full membership in the United Nations, the draft resolution put to a vote today, Friday, will grant the Palestinians some additional rights and benefits as of September 2024, such as a seat with the UN member states in the Assembly Hall, but Without the right to vote.

Diplomats say that the wording of the draft resolution is likely to gain the support required for adoption.

The draft resolution indicates that “Palestine meets the criteria for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article IV of the United Nations Charter, and should therefore be accepted as a member of the United Nations.”

The project recommends that the UN Security Council reconsider Palestine’s membership in a “positive” manner within this framework.

Currently, Palestine has the status of a “non-member observer state,” by a resolution adopted by the General Assembly in November 2012.

The Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has left more than 113,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.

The Israeli occupation continues the war despite the issuance of a resolution by the UN Security Council to stop the fighting immediately, and also despite the International Court of Justice demanding immediate measures to prevent acts of “genocide” and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.