The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution that had broad support for extending full member status to the state of Palestine.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council voted 12-1 for the resolution on Thursday; just nine were needed for it to pass. Two members, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, abstained. But the U.S. veto, a power shared by four other members – China, France, Russia and the U.K. – was decisive.
During the session, diplomats pressed for a ceasefire and release of all hostages in the Israel-Hamas war. The debate had revived the Palestinian Authority’s long-held hopes of joining the world body as a full member, a goal that Israel has long worked against.
The U.S. believes there are unresolved questions about whether Palestine has met all of the criteria to be considered a country, according to Robert Wood, the alternate American representative to the United Nations.
"The United States has worked vigorously and with determination to support Palestinian statehood in the context of a comprehensive peace agreement that would permanently resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Wood said after the vote.
"There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace and with dignity in a state of their own," he said. "We also have long been clear that premature actions here in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people."
The humanitarian nightmare and attacks on civilians in Gaza dominated the council's quarterly open debate about the Middle East and the Palestinians. Algeria offered the draft resolution recommending U.N. membership for Palestine.
If it had passed, the resolution would sent the council's recommendation to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly, which has no vetoes.
Full U.N. membership requires the Security Council's approval and support from at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.
The General Assembly would have been all but certain to pass the resolution since it voted in 2012 to give Palestine status as a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood, and some 140 members have expressed support for Palestine.
"We remain committed to all efforts that seek to achieve concrete progress towards a comprehensive settlement of the crisis in the Middle East," the chair of the debate, Malta's Foreign Minister Ian Borg, whose nation holds the council's monthly revolving presidency, told reporters.
"The region is in crisis and threat of wider regional conflict remains very present," Borg said. "Immediate de-escalation and restraint are of paramount importance. Respect for international law, including international humanitarian law, and diplomacy must be our driving principles."
'Maximum restraint' needed
Though the Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, it has no sway in Gaza where Hamas seized power in 2007.
Regional tensions have soared since Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both backed by Iran, killed 1,200 people in a cross-border raid on Israel and kidnapped 250 others. Israel's retaliatory war and widespread destruction in Gaza has led to more than 33,700 Palestinian deaths, according to U.N. figures.
Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran’s first-ever direct military assault last week using 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles – 99% of which were intercepted.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the council the Middle East is on a precipice amid a "perilous escalation" in fighting and speeches.
"One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable – a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved – and for the rest of the world," he warned. "This moment of maximum peril must be a time for maximum restraint."
Despite the push for a council vote on Palestinian membership, Israel's main ally, the United States, has insisted that Israel and the Palestinians first negotiate a peace agreement.
Supporters of the Palestinians have submitted a letter to the council president with the names of 140 countries that have recognized a Palestinian state. Those include members of the 22-nation Arab Group at the U.N., the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement.
It also includes seven of council’s 15 current members: Algeria, China, Ecuador, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia and Sierra Leone.
This is a developing story and it has been updated.
