UN General Assembly set to back Palestinian bid for membership

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to "reconsider the matter favourably."

The Palestinians are reviving their bid to become a full UN member - a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state - after the United States vetoed it in the 15-member UN Security Council last month.

The vote by the 193-member General Assembly will act as a global survey of support for the Palestinians. An application to become a full UN member first needs to be approved by the Security Council and then the General Assembly.

But while the General Assembly alone cannot grant full UN membership, the draft resolution being put to a vote will give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from September 2024 - like a seat among the UN members in the assembly hall - but it will not be granted a vote in the body.

Diplomats said the draft text is likely to get the support needed to be adopted.

The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal.

The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012.