Palestinians will renew a bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations. Palestinians are listed as a UN observer “entity” with no voting rights. They will ask to be made a non-member observer state at the UN General Assembly. It would allow them to join a number of UN agencies, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee member, described the bid as a “last-ditch effort. We believe the two-state solution is in jeopardy because of [Israeli] actions. We want to ensure that the world is still committed to the establishment of a sovereign viable democratic free Palestinian state to interact as an equal”.
A similar campaign by the Palestinians last year proved short-lived amid opposition from Israel and the US.