America rejected the vote, while Switzerland and Britain abstained and twelve of the fifteen members of the Security Council supported it.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine, described it as “unfair, unethical, and unjustified”.
Israel Katz, the country’s foreign minister, commended the US for obstructing the action, nevertheless.
“The State of Palestine be admitted to membership” was the recommendation made in the draft resolution to the 193-member General Assembly.
Robert Wood, the United States’ UN representative, stated that a major reason the motion was blocked was Hamas’s ongoing authority over Gaza.
Many governments, including the US and UK, have classified the group as a terror organization.
Currently not a member is the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.
