The General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly approved a resolution determining that the State of Palestine is eligible for UN membership under the organization’s statute, and recommending that the UN Security Council “positively reconsider” its membership.
The project, which received the green light with 143 votes in favour, 25 abstentions and 9 opponents, requires the Security Council to accommodate Palestine’s full membership and make significant changes to its current permanent observer status.
After approval, Palestine may exercise the right to occupy a seat among the members in alphabetical order. Registering on the list of speakers for discussions other than Palestinian and Middle Eastern issues; or making statements on behalf of a group, including among representatives of major groups.
The delegation will also have the authority to submit proposals and amendments and incorporate them into the analyses, and may be elected to the Bureau of Plenary Sessions and Main Committees of the General Assembly.
Other guarantees will allow them to participate in the United Nations and other international conferences held under the auspices of the General Assembly or other United Nations bodies.
This provision not only has symbolic importance, but also indicates a change in the diplomatic weight of Palestine within the entire organization system, which will be effective from the beginning of the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly, in mid-September of this year. year. .
Moreover, experts confirm, the majority supports the two-state solution and ending the war that began on October 7.
The last session of the Assembly coincided with the deterioration of the conditions of the overcrowded Palestinians in Rafah Governorate, who were forced to flee again in the wake of the Israeli attack on that area.
Yesterday, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees estimated that more than 110,000 civilians were forced to leave the city where many people displaced by the conflict have taken refuge.
The city of Rafah, located in the south of the Gaza Strip, is inhabited by about 1.2 million people, equivalent to half of the total population of the Gaza Strip.
The demarcation was also considered a center of humanitarian activity because it includes the important crossing with Egypt, which months ago was the only crossing allowed for vital supplies to enter.
However, the Israeli takeover of the border crossing and the siege of several neighborhoods in Rafah are keeping humanitarian agencies in check and threatening to run out of resources.
Most of the displaced seek safety in Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah, but the United Nations insists that these areas lack the basic services necessary to support civilians who need food, shelter, and medical care.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Friday that at least five hospitals run by the Ministry of Health in Gaza and 28 ambulances belonging to the Palestine Red Crescent Society and local authorities would be affected by the fuel shortage.
Another 17 primary health care centres, five field hospitals, 10 mobile clinics for immunization, trauma care and malnutrition, and 23 medical centers in Al-Mawasi may have to stop their services.
Omani Riyal/ebr
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