Maldives calls on security council to reconsider Palestine admission after general assemble vote

Maldives government on Tuesday called on the Security Council to re-consider the admission of Palestine as a full member state of the United Nations (UN) after the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor.

With the war in Gaza raging, the Palestinians in April relaunched a request dating back to 2011 to become full members of the United Nations, where their current status is that of a "nonmember observer state."

To succeed, the initiative needed a UN Security Council green light and then a two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly.

But the United States -- one of five veto-holding members on the Security Council and Israel's closest ally -- blocked it on April 18.

During the statement delivered at the tenth Emergency Special Session, the Maldives noted that the overwhelming support for the Resolution sent a strong message to the Security Council.

"Maldives further called on United Nations member states to act with urgency to stop the ongoing suffering in Palestine, and make Israel comply with its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law," foreign ministry said in a statement.

Maldives further emphasised that a comprehensive solution to the conflict in the Middle East can only be achieved with the recognition and establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The resolution gives the Palestinians "additional rights and privileges" starting in the next session of the General Assembly, in September.

The text explicitly rules out letting the Palestinians be chosen to sit on the Security Council or to vote in the General Assembly.

But it lets them submit proposals and amendments directly, without having to go through another country, as is the case now.

It also gives them the right to be seated among member states in alphabetical order.