By Serdar Dincel
ISTANBUL (AA) - Qatar has reiterated its call for the UN Security Council to recommend full membership for Palestine, state news agency QNA reported on Tuesday.
At a session on Palestine at the General Assembly in New York on Monday, Qatar's UN ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani expressed pride in the adoption of the historic draft resolution by an overwhelming majority, which supported Palestine's right to full membership in the UN.
The UN General Assembly on Friday 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 membership in the UN in 2011 but did not receive the necessary support from the Security Council under a US veto. It, however, in 2012 obtained "permanent observer status."
She expressed gratitude to the countries that voted in favor of the resolution, affirming that Qatar’s participation in adopting it reflects its “principled and longstanding position in support of the Palestinian people and their just cause.”
Sheikha Alya said Qatar “confirms that the state of Palestine meets the required criteria and conditions under Article 4 of the UN Charter; therefore, this decision represents a significant victory for our Palestinian brothers and provides a new opportunity for the Security Council to take a unified stance to recommend the membership of the state of Palestine.”
She said admission of Palestine as a full member "is a crucial step toward achieving the two-state solution, which is a key entry point to a just and comprehensive political settlement of the Palestinian issue in accordance with international legitimacy."
Stressing Qatar's condemnation of the Israeli bombing of Rafah, the official urged an "international action to prevent the invasion of the city and the commission of genocide and to provide full protection for civilians under international law and international humanitarian law."
Noting Qatar's commitment to the mediation efforts along with the US and Egypt, she expressed hope that "sincere efforts will again result in an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza, the release of prisoners and detainees, the continuous delivery of humanitarian aid, and the protection of civilians, paving the way for a serious political process leading to a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue."
Israel has attacked the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people and took around 250 as hostages.
Nearly 35,100 Palestinians have since been killed, and vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, besides internal displacement and conditions of famine.
Last week, Hamas accepted a proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar to end the war. But Israel said the truce offer did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah, the southern city home to more than 1.5 million displaced people.