UNGA Passes Resolution Urging UNCS to Give ‘Favourable Consideration’ to Full Palestinian Membership

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convened in New York on Friday for an emergency special session on the Gaza crisis and overwhelmingly passed a resolution which upgrades Palestine's rights at the world body as an Observer State, without offering full membership. It urged the Security Council to give "favourable consideration" to Palestine's request. The Resolution was passed overwhelmingly with 143 countries in favour, nine against and 25 abstaining. The resolution considered that the State of Palestine has become eligible for full membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter, reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to establish their independent state, and the principle of the inadmissibility of seizing lands by force in line with the Charter of the international organization. It stressed the need to preserve the unity of all the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the withdrawal of th e Israeli entity from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, calling on the international community to make renewed and coordinated efforts to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, which began in 1967, and to reach a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including UN Security Council Resolution No. 2334 of 2016, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the two-state solution. In early April, the State of Palestine submitted a requested the UN Security Council to reconsider its previous request in 2011 calling for full membership in the United Nations. Palestine currently has observer state status through a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. According to the UN Charter, a state is admitted to the United Nations by a resolution issued by the UNGA with a two-thirds majority, but only after a positive recommendation to this effect by 9 members of the Security Council out of a total of 15 member states, provided that none of the five permanent members (Russia, China, France, Britain, and the United States) vote against the admission. Source: Qatar News Agency