Today, Thursday, the UN Security Council will hold its monthly meeting regarding the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, Ian Borg, whose country is chairing the Council this month.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to deliver a speech at the open ministerial meeting, including a warning about the repercussions of the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank and an emphasis on the two-state solution.

The UN Security Council is likely to hold a separate session today, Thursday or tomorrow, Friday, to vote on the request of the State of Palestine to obtain full membership in the United Nations.

At the beginning of this April, Palestine submitted a request to the Security Council to reconsider the application it submitted in 2011 to obtain full membership in the United Nations.

The Arab Group at the United Nations called on all members of the UN Security Council to vote in favor of a draft resolution submitted by Algeria on behalf of the group demanding the acceptance of Palestine as a full member state in the international organization.

For the Council to approve any decision, the support of at least nine countries is required, and none of the permanent members (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China) must use the “veto.”

If the Security Council approves membership, without a veto, the General Assembly will vote on membership provided that the request receives two-thirds of the 193 members.

Palestine currently has the status of a non-member observer state after the 193-member United Nations General Assembly recognized Palestine in 2012.

The Palestinian presidency had expressed its denunciation and rejection of the statements of the United States representative to the United Nations, in which she said that she “does not believe that full membership of Palestine in the United Nations will help reach a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”