Palestinian statehood bid submitted to UN
An official bid for Palestinian statehood has been submitted to the UN Security Council, a diplomatic source told RT on Tuesday. Arab delegates in the UN are determined to hold the vote before the day’s end.
“A bid for Palestinian statehood has been submitted to the UN Security Council,” a diplomatic source told RT on Tuesday. The source did not elaborate further.
The draft resolution calls for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the creation of a state by 2017. It would also mandate that Israel and Palestine return to pre-1967 borders. All 22 Arab delegations in the UN approve of the proposal.
READ MORE: Chief Palestinian negotiator says UN statehood vote to happen this year
The UNSC has announced that it will hold a vote on the bid in a 5pm (2200 GMT) session Tuesday afternoon.
“We are trying to organize the vote for this afternoon. It’s a question of logistics,” said Jordan’s UN envoy, Dina Kawar.
READ MORE: End of 'Israeli occupation'? Arabs support Palestinian draft UN resolution
The US is expected to veto the bid if it manages to obtain the necessary votes. In particular, the US State Department criticized the move as “not constructive” and for setting what it called “arbitrary deadlines," while Britain’s Ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said that Britain cannot support the resolution, as there are “some difficulties with the text.”
Peace talks between Israel and Palestine have stalled as relations between the two further deteriorated following the conflict in Gaza this summer. Meanwhile, a wave of support for Palestinian statehood has swept Europe.
In October, Sweden became the first EU country to vote to recognize Palestine. Britain, France, Spain and Portugal followed suit. Earlier this month the European Parliament also voted to recognize a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called to reject the bid.
"We expect the entire international community, at least its responsible members, to strongly oppose this dictate to the UN and the Security Council. What we need is direct negotiations and not dictated terms,” he said in a meeting with Indian Governor Mike Pence on Monday.
