guardian | The United Nations general assembly voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to recognise Palestine as a state, in the face of opposition from Israel and the US.
The
193-member assembly voted 138 in favour of the plan, with only nine
against and 41 abstentions. The scale of the defeat represented a strong
and public repudiation for Israel and the US, who find themselves out
of step with the rest of the world.
Thursday's vote marked a diplomatic breakthrough for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and could help his standing after weeks in which he has been sidelined by Palestinian rivals Hamas in the Gaza conflict.
Abbas,
who flew from Ramallah, on the West Bank, to New York to address the
general assembly, said: "The moment has arrived for the world to say
clearly: enough of aggression, settlements and occupation."
