Regret US decision to veto draft resolution on Palestine’s UN membership: FO

Granting UN membership to Palestine will mark a moment of historic justice, says FO

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan on Friday expressed its disappointment on the United Nations Security Council’s inability to reach a consensus on Palestine’s full membership of the United Nations, also regretting the US decision to veto the draft resolution.

“Pakistan is deeply disappointed by the result of last night’s debate at UNSC and its inability to reach a consensus and recommend Palestine’s membership to UNGA. We regret the US decision to veto the draft resolution granting full membership of the UN to Palestine,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly press briefing.

A day earlier, the US had effectively stopped the UN from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership in the world body.

 "Granting UN membership to Palestine, a nation enduring 75 years of oppression, constitutes a validation of their inherent right to self-determination and will mark a moment of historic justice," maintained the FO spokesperson. 

Read Pakistan terms Israel policies as apartheid at UN court

The FO emphasized, "The Palestinian populace deserves the right to live in an autonomous state within the delineated confines of June 4, 1967, with its capital situated in Al-Quds."

Referring to the recent visit by a delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Mumtaz said that the counterparts from both nations delved into multiple regional and global concerns during the visit.

The office noted that the two ministers discussed the rising instability in the region, urging for an immediate halt to the hostilities in Gaza and ensuring unhindered humanitarian aid access.

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

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the US veto in a statement as "unfair, unethical, and unjustified."