Maldives disheartened after US blocks Palestine’s UN membership

Maldives has expressed disheartenment after the United States blocked Palestine’s second attempt to become a full member of the United Nations (UN).

US vetoed the widely supported Palestine's UN membership resolution at the UN Security Council during a vote on Thursday.

Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer, in a post on X, said Maldives stands with more than 140 UN member states to support the Palestinian cause and their application to become admitted to the UN as a full member.

“It is imperative that the UN upholds its principles of justice and equality for all,” he stressed.

Minister Zameer also reaffirmed Maldives’ call for a just and lasting solution based on the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 border.

The #Maldives is once again disheartened by the decision of the #UNSC to deny the application of #Palestine to become a full member of the #UN.

We stand with more than 140 UN Member States to support the Palestinian cause and their application to become a full member of the UN.…

— Moosa Zameer (@MoosaZameer) April 19, 2024

Mohamed Naseer, the Principal Secretary at the President’s Office on Foreign Affairs, delivered Maldives’ statement at the UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.

Maldives, in the statement, called on the members of the United Nations; especially the permanent members of the UN Security Council to give their full and unconditional support for the admission of Palestine to the UN as a full member state. 

Maldives also called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions, including an arms embargo on Israel for violating the Charter of the Council on multiple occasions. 

Thursday's vote came more than six months into Israel's military invasion in the besieged Palestinian territory that has left nearly 34,000 Palestinians dead — mostly babies, women and children — and wounded over 76,770.