PALESTINIANS TO CONTINUE STATEHOOD BID: OFFICIAL

**Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.(**Photo: Press TV)

Al-Quds (Occupied Jeruslem), 10 Rabi’ul Awwal 1436/1 Januari 2015 (MINA) – Palestine says it will push ahead with its statehood bid despite the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s recent rejection of a Jordanian-drafted resolution on the issue.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said it would continue its statehood plans shortly after the resolution fell one vote short in the 15-member council, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The resolution – which received eight “yes” votes, two “no” votes from the United States and Australia, and five abstentions – called for “a just, lasting, and comprehensive peaceful solution.”

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The document called for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within 12 months and set a deadline of December 31, 2017 for Tel Aviv to end its occupation of Palestinian territories.

“It wasn’t a surprising decision that we didn’t receive the nine votes because the American administration exerted tremendous efforts and ongoing pressure on several states to prevent the success of the resolution,” Fatah Revolutionary Council’s Amin Maqboul said. “The Palestinian plan is still the same and has not changed.”

Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories.

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Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)