Palestine's admission to UN ‘long overdue': Envoy

HAMILTON, Canada

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN issued a fervent call Wednesday for "long overdue" admission of his country to the UN.

Riyad Mansour spoke at the UN General Assembly session on the veto of the draft resolution for Palestine's UN membership and stressed that one cannot support a two-state solution while standing idle.

"An immediate cease-fire, long called for by this assembly and demanded by the Security Council is indispensable," he said, asserting that atrocities against Palestinians must be promptly stopped.

Mansour lamented the "methodical devastation" and "unprecedented scale of destruction in Gaza," depicting it as integral to efforts aimed at dismantling the Palestinian nation through displacement and death.

He underscored that the admission of Palestine to the UN would send an unequivocal message that Palestinian "self-determination and statehood are not subject to the whims of extremists in Israel."

Mansour questioned the rationale behind conditioning Palestine's membership bid to achieve a solution to the conflict, especially considering the double standards evident in the world's approach.

"How can those who supported the admission of Israel 75 years ago, while it was violating the charter and fundamental UN resolutions and in isolation from a just solution of the conflict, explain that Palestine's admission 75 years later, should be conditioned to the achievement of such a solution," he said, describing the approach as "absurd."

Urging countries that have not yet recognized Palestine to act without delay, Mansour warned against complacency and emphasized that those seeking to destroy Palestinians are not pausing their efforts.

US does not oppose a two-state solution

Robert Wood, deputy permanent representative of the United States to the UN, stated the reasons for his country's veto of Palestine's full UN membership, emphasizing that the US does not oppose a two-state solution.

Noting that "sustainable peace in the region can only be achieved through a two-state solution with Israel security guaranteed," Wood accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to undertake necessary reforms.

He said a two-state solution would affect regional integration and Israel's relations with Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia.

Claiming that Hamas has "power and influence in Gaza," Wood said, "For these reasons, the United States voted no on this Security Council resolution."

Wood also said the veto did not mean opposing Palestine's statehood but aimed to allow the situation to be clarified through negotiations between parties.

Palestine, currently, is a non-member state in the UN but has an observer status. An application for full membership necessitates approval from the UN Security Council and a two-thirds vote of all member states in the General Assembly.

On April 19, the US vetoed a draft resolution requesting Palestine's full membership at the UN Security Council.

The 15-member Council gathered in New York to vote on the resolution authored by Algeria recommending the admission of Palestine for UN membership.

The membership was blocked with a vote of 12 in favor and two abstentions, including the UK and Switzerland.

The resolution would have paved the way for a full membership application for Palestine as the death toll in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 34,000 in a relentless bombing campaign from Israeli forces since Oct. 7.