BREAKING NEWS

UNSC hands Palestinian statehood bid to review panel

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously agreed to hand the Palestinian application to join the United Nations to a committee that will review and assess it in the coming weeks.
The standing committee on the admission of new members to the world body is comprised of all 15 council members. Normally, the review period for a membership application is a maximum of 35 days, but Western diplomats say that this limit can be waived and might take much longer for the Palestinians.
The chief Palestinian delegate to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, welcomed the council's move.
"We are grateful to the Security Council for moving decisively and clearly on our application," he said. "The process is moving forward step by step, and we hope that the Security Council will shoulder its responsibility and approve our application."