CAIRO, April 19. /TASS/. The veto of the United States, which blocked a UN Security Council resolution granting full UN membership to Palestine, is immoral and encourages the Israeli government to continue its war on the people of Palestine, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.
"The US veto at the UN Security Council is unfair, immoral and runs counter to the will of the international community," Abbas was quoted as saying by the Al-Youm as-Sabia news portal. "The US policy encourages Israel to continue its war of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."
Abbas sharply criticized the US veto, saying that "the global community strongly supports Palestine’s full membership at the UN." In his opinion, "the majority of countries recognized Palestinian statehood in 2012, after the UN General Assembly made the decision to raise Palestine’s status to that of an observer country."
In his opinion, Washington’s foreign policy constitutes "an outrageous aggression against the international law."
Earlier in the day, the United States exercised its veto right and blocked Palestine’s bid to become a full-fledged member of the United Nations. 12 countries, including Russia and China, voted in favor; two - the United Kingdom and Switzerland - abstained. The United States was the only country that voted against.
On April 4, Malta, which holds the UN Security Council presidency this month, granted Palestine’s request to resume its UN membership process. The Palestinian diplomatic mission attached to its request letters of support from the group of Arab Nations at the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement. Another annex to the document contained the list of 140 countries that have already recognized Palestine as a sovereign country.