Today the UN General Assembly is expected to approved the Palestinian application for full membership in the United Nations, recognizing it as admissible and sending it further for approval by the Security Council with a recommendation that it be "reviewed by it with a positive opinion", reported Reuters and BTA.
Palestinians are once again trying to become a full member of the United Nations - a move that is effectively tantamount to recognizing a Palestinian state - after the US vetoed a Security Council resolution to that effect last month.
Today's vote in the 193-member General Assembly will be a barometer of attitudes around the world regarding support for the Palestinians. Any application for the admission of a country to the UN must first be approved by the Security Council and the General Assembly.
While the General Assembly itself cannot grant full membership, the draft resolution to be voted on today will provide the Palestinians with some additional rights and privileges from September this year - as a seat among other UN members in the meeting hall of the Assembly - but they shall have no right to vote in that body.
According to diplomats, the text of the resolution will most likely gather the necessary support to be adopted.
The Palestinian bid for full UN membership comes seven months after the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian radicals from "Hamas" in the Gaza Strip and at a time when Israel is expanding its settlement network in the occupied West Bank, a policy considered illegal by the United Nations.
The Palestinians now have non-member observer state status, a de facto recognition of their statehood that was made by the UN General Assembly in 2012.