CAIRO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Countries in the Middle East have expressed their disappointment over a U.S. decision to use its veto to deny Palestine's full membership in the United Nations (UN).
The United States on Thursday vetoed a draft resolution recommending that the General Assembly admit Palestine to the UN. Britain and Switzerland abstained while the remaining members of the Security Council voted in favor.
"It is regrettable that veto is used to impede an obvious international willingness to accept Palestine's full membership to the UN," Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on social media platform X.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also voiced its regret, saying that recognizing the Palestinian state and approving its full membership in the UN is an inherent right of the Palestinian people who have suffered from the Israeli occupation for more than 70 years.
The obstruction of the full membership isn't consistent with the legal and historical responsibility placed on the international community towards ending the occupation and reaching a final and just solution to the Palestinian issue, it added.
Disappointed by the result, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants called on the international community to translate words into action by accepting the two-state solution and recognizing Palestine as an independent, full-fledged state.
Noting that the Israeli military operation on the Gaza Strip has led to "the worst humanitarian disaster" the world has ever witnessed in the 21st century, the Qatari Foreign Ministry expressed its deep regret at the failure of the Security Council to adopt the resolution.
In an official statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of hindering the Security Council's duty to uphold the Palestinian people's legitimate rights.
The ministry said that what the United States did further tarnished its history of undermining collective international efforts and "displaying blatant favoritism towards Israel."
Barring the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on Palestinian land would only intensify the current fragile state of security and instability in the Middle East, added the ministry.
Stressing that "Palestine has a historical right to establish its state," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that depriving Palestine of this right represented a violation of the rights of the Palestinian people.
"Depriving the Palestinian people of their rights exposes the region to the risk of permanent instability, and portends dire consequences, especially in light of the continuing war against Gaza and the failure of international efforts to end the crisis," the statement warned.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticized the United States for vetoing the draft resolution.
"Here, as everyone stands with Palestine, unfortunately, America is once again siding with Israel," Erdogan said. "Nonetheless, we didn't anticipate anything different, and this has become abundantly clear to us." ■
