Israeli and Palestinian ambassadors faced off at the UN Security Council on Thursday in a tense debate presided by Malta on a resolution for the granting of UN membership for Palestine.

The Israeli ambassador warned that granting the Palestinians membership of the organisation would be a reward to Palestinian terrorists and render the UN “a haven for dictatorships and terrorists”.

The Palestinian ambassador said it would be a major step towards peace and justice.

“The Hamas rapists are watching this meeting and they are smiling. There is no bigger prize for terror than today’s meeting,” Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the meeting.

“If this resolution passes, this council should no longer be known as the 'security council' but as the 'terror council'.”

Resolution expected to be vetoed 

The council is due to vote later on Thursday on the resolution, moved by Algeria, to grant membership to the Palestinians, who currently have observer status. The United States is expected to exercise its veto to stop the resolution in its tracks.

Palestine insists that UN membership would be a major step towards achieving a peaceful two-state solution that recognises the legitimate, independent Palestinian state.

Sources told Times of Malta that a majority of council members including Malta are prepared to vote in favour of the resolution, which is however expected to be blocked by the US. 

‘Granting a prize to terrorists’

Israel’s Erdan hit out at the resolution, saying it was “the vilest reward to the vilest crimes”.

It is “granting a prize to terrorists” who only want to join the UN as long as it “can be weaponised against Israel” he said.

“How many times has this council met to advance the release of hostages held in Gaza? Not even once. How many condemnations has the council issued for the Hamas’ October 7 attrocities? Zero.”  

"Rather than taking real actions to bring our hostages home, this Council will be voting to grant full membership status to a Palestinian state. How detached from reality can this council be to support a resolution so disconnected from the reality on the ground?” he asked.

‘What a joke’

Erdan reminded his counterparts that the UN charter says membership is open to all peace-loving states.

“What a joke. Does anyone doubt that the Palestinians fail to meet this criteria? The Palestinian Authority, ironically has no authority. Who does this council want to recognise? Hamas in Gaza?” he said.

He said if the resolution passed, it would make any future negotiations almost impossible.

What does Palestine want?

Speaking from the opposite side of the table, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ziad Abu-Amr made an almost diametrically opposite  argument.

The Security Council should allow Palestine in as a full member of the UN exactly because it would be a major step towards a peaceful solution to the conflict, lifting “some of the injustices that Palestinians have been subjected to” over the decades.

“It will open wide prospects to a true peace based on justice that people of the region will enjoy,” he said.

“How could granting the State of Palestine membership damage the prospects of peace between Palestinians and Israelis? How could it harm international peace and security?

“It is time for the Security Council to shoulder its historic responsibility to give justice to the Palestinian people by accepting Palestine as a full member of the UN. Those who are hindering it are not helping the prospects of peace in the Middle East.”

Abu-Amr said the plight of Palestinian people started over a century ago and was still ongoing. They were victims of a history that was not their making, he said, and the situation was the result of decisions that were outside their control.

Has the Palestinian state worked for peace?

He said that since the 1980s, Palestinian leadership showed a readiness to sit at the negotiation table, end conflict and find a solution. It has made “every possible genuine effort and historic concessions that were based on the two-state solution.

But Israel’s Erdan insisted that was not true and he asked the Council how it could support “such a destructive and immoral resolution at the worst possible moment”.

Iran unleashed a barrage of missiles and drones on Israel last weekend, after an attack on its consulate in Damascus widely blamed on Israel.

Erdan said that despite last weekend’s Iranian attack, the Council was still allowing the Iranian representative to sit at the table and “make a mockery” of it.

He repeatedly referred to Iran’s minister as the “terror minister”.

“Nothing here at the UN is based on truth and justice, but on toxic politicisation. Please do not give in to politics – do not support this dangerous resolution,” he said.

“Your eyes will remain on Gaza as the rest of the world burns. This council cares nothing about human rights or international law.”

What does Malta want?

Malta has maintained its support for a two-state solution, by which both Israel and Palestine would be recognised as separate, independent states living and operating peacefully side by side.

It holds that Palestine should be granted statehood, with the Gaza strip being made part of its independent territory and with Jerusalem becoming the future capital of both the Israeli and Palestinian states.

“Fundamentally, a just resolution of this conflict demands a reality which embraces the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for UN membership and Statehood,” Ian Borg told the council.

“It also demands a reality in which Israelis live in security, without being held hostage by the threat of terrorism. The parameters for a realisation of this vision are well-known and must be pursued as a matter of urgency.”

Borg described the ripple effect of the war in Gaza as “deeply troubling”.

“The heightened tensions in the region and the increased escalations and skirmishes in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen push the region closer to an untenable conflagration,” he said.

“Immediate de-escalation and restraint is of paramount importance. International law and diplomacy must be our guiding principles.”

He, again, reiterated Malta’s call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, condemned the horrors inflicted on both Israeli and Palestinian civilians and called for all hostages to be realesed immediately and for humanitarian aid to be allowed to reach those who need it.

On the brink of ‘full-scale regional conflict’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the debate, painting a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiralling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran's attack on Israel could devolve into a "full-scale regional conflict."

"The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation - in words and deeds," he said.

"One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable - a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved," he said, calling on all parties to exercise "maximum restraint."