Palestine secures new position at UN general assembly for 79th session

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - Palestine's Mission to the UN announced on Friday that it will participate in the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (GA) for the first time with an official seat.

"Starting the 79th GA session, and for the first time, you can find the State of Palestine seated between Sri Lanka and Sudan," the mission wrote on X, adding that the position comes following a resolution being adopted at the General Assembly.

The resolution, ES-10/23, grants Palestine additional rights and privileges for participation at the UN, marking a notable enhancement of its status within the international organization.

In May, the General Assembly endorsed a resolution calling for the reevaluation of Palestine's UN membership bid and granting additional rights.

The resolution was adopted with 143 member states voting in favor. The US was among nine countries to oppose it, while 25 others abstained.

Palestine applied for full UN membership in 2011 but did not receive the necessary support from the Security Council due to a US veto. However, in 2012, it obtained "permanent observer status."