Middle East updates: US blocks UN membership for Palestine

The United States on Thursday vetoed a request seeking full UN membership for the "State of Palestine" at the UN Security Council on Thursday.

"It remains the US view that the most expeditious path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners," a US representative told Reuters news agency before the vote.

The vote was taken by the 15-member Security Council on a draft resolution introduced by Algeria recommending that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations."

The draft received 12 votes in favor, two abstentions and the US veto against.

Security Council resolutions require at least nine affirmative votes and no vetoes from any of the five permanent members — the US, UK, France, Russia and China — to pass.

"We have long been clear that premature actions in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people," the US representative told Reuters.

Palestinians currently enjoy non-member observer status at the UN. Full membership requires Security Council approval, as well as backing from at least two-thirds of the UN General Assembly. 

What to know about the "State of Palestine"

The first Oslo Accord between the Israelis and Palestinians, signed in September 1993, created the basis for Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

This was followed by the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which became the institutional arm of the Palestinian territory and continues to function as a government with a president and a prime minister. The Palestinian territories have not yet gained the status of a state.

In 2013, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, ordered the use of the term "State of Palestine" instead of "Palestinian Authority" in official communications.

In 2012 the representation of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was granted non-member observer status at the UN as the State of Palestine for the Palestinian Territories. 138 of 193 UN members voted for the recognition, with 9 voting against and 41 abstentions, including Germany. 

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked 98 ships in the Red Sea since their offensive against vessels they say are connected to Israel began last November, the group's leader said on Thursday.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi claimed in a televised statement that the group had expanded its operations to the Indian Ocean toward southern Israel, as earlier promised.

The attacks on vessels deemed linked to Israel or its allies have had "a massive effect and have been a success," the rebel leader said.

Meanwhile, he denied the Houthi campaign posed a "danger to maritime traffic related to [ships linked to] European countries that are not headed to Israel." 

The Houthis launched their campaign last November, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where Israel's war on the Hamas militant group has raged for over six months, killing over 34,000 people, according to local health authorities in the Hamas-controlled strip. 

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 people hostage.

The US and the UK launched in January retaliatory strikes against the Houthis, whose campaign has disrupted traffic on the vital trade route.

"The solution in everyone's interest is to stop the [Israeli] aggression, end the siege in Gaza, and provide food and medicine [to the Gaza Strip,]" al-Houthi said.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Iran's attack on Israel could result in a "full-scale regional conflict."

"The Middle East is on a precipice ... one miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable — a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved and for the rest of the world," Guterres told the Security Council.

The UN chief said Israel's offensive targeting Hamas in Gaza had created a "humanitarian hellscape" and said ending the conflict in the Palestinian territory "would significantly defuse tensions across the region."

Guterres again called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire along with the immediate release of all hostages held in Gaza.

On Saturday, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in its first direct attack in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, in which senior Iranian military officers were killed.

Guterres condemned both the consulate attack and the barrage of drones, saying that the latter constituted a "serious escalation" of the situation.

"It is high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation," he said. "It is high time to stop."

As tensions between Iran and Israel grow, Tehran has issued a stern warning, vowing to target Israeli nuclear sites should Israel choose to attack Iran's nuclear energy facilities.

"If [Israel] wants to take action against our nuclear centers and facilities, we will surely and categorically reciprocate with advanced missiles against their own nuclear sites," Iranian state news agencies quoted Ahmad Haghtalab, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officer in charge of nuclear security, as saying.

All eyes are on Israel's response to an unprecedented Iranian attack that saw hundreds of missiles and drones launched at Israel by Tehran on Saturday.

The weekend incident came in response to an airstrike on Iran's consulate complex in Damascus, Syria, an attack that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards members, including two high-ranking officers, and that Iran blames on Israel.

Israel has long said Iran's nuclear ambitions go far beyond medical and energy use and that the avowed rival intends to develop a nuclear weapon to wipe the state of Israel off the map.

Iran has steadfastly denied such ambitions and insisted its nuclear program is entirely civilian in nature. The country's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the "building and stockpiling" of nuclear bombs "wrong" and their use "haram," or religiously forbidden.

On Thursday, Haghtalab of the IRGC made clear that Tehran may be forced to reconsider that position as threats "against Iran's nuclear facilities make it possible to review our nuclear doctrine and deviate from our previous considerations." 

The United States and the United Kingdom announced they would be imposing a new round of sanctions on Iran after it launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel.

Washington is targeting "16 individuals and two entities enabling Iran's UAV production, including engine types that power Iran's Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the April 13 attack," the US Treasury Department said in a statement, referring to Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle program.

"Today, in coordination with the United Kingdom and in consultation with partners and allies, we are taking swift and decisive action to respond to Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement that he had directed the US Treasury "to continue to impose sanctions that further degrade Iran's military industries."

"Let it be clear to all those who enable or support Iran's attacks," he said, "we will not hesitate to take all necessary action to hold you accountable."

In addition to the Treasury's sanctions, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is also imposing new controls to restrict Iran’s access basic commercial-grade microelectronics. 

Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza on Thursday said that at least 33,970 people have been killed since the war began over six months ago.

The death toll includes at least 71 deaths reported over a 24-hour period, the ministry said, adding that 76,770 people had been wounded in the conflict.

Figures from the ministry are deemed largely accurate by the UN, but they do not differentiate between militants and civilians.

The foreign ministers of China and Indonesia have called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire following talks in Indonesia's capital Jakarta on Thursday.

"Both ministers expressed resentment over the humanitarian disaster due to the Palestine-Israel conflict. We agree that the UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire must be fully implemented and without any condition," China’s Wang Yi said after the meeting with Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.

Wang urged the US to "listen to the international community" amid growing concerns over the spiraling conflict in the Middle East.

"The UN Security Council is a collective security mechanism that must not be used by a certain country," Wang said.

Indonesia’s top diplomat said she hoped Beijing would “use its influence to prevent escalation” in Gaza and emphasized the need for a two-state solution.

Israel launched an offensive against the Islamist Hamas militant group after it led a terror attack on southern Israel on October 7 in which around 1,200 were killed and some 250 people were taken hostage. 

Since then Israel has gradually expanded its offensive throughout the Gaza Strip. More than a million Palestinians are now seeking shelter in the southern city of Rafah, which Israel says it is planning on moving ground forces into.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday welcomed news that EU leaders would widen sanctions against Iran.

"This is an important step to pull the teeth out of the snake," Katz wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He thanked "all our friends for their support and help." Katz wrote: "Iran must be stopped now be stopped now before it's too late." 

In the early hours of Thursday morning, European Council President Charles Michel announced that the EU would widen the scope of sanctions on Iran, specifically targeting its drone and missile producers.

EU leaders have been meeting at a two-day summit in Brussels to discuss Middle East tensions, following Iran's weekend attack on Israel involving hundreds of drones and missiles, among other issues.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has tasked his staff with drawing up new measures. It is not a simple step, however, as the EU has already targeted those responsible for making drones that Iran has sold to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. 

Borrell said that proxy forces backed by Iran in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria could also be targeted with sanctions.

kb/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)