BICOM

The Palestinian Authority is currently seeking to muster support for a vote in the United Nations Security Council on its statehood bid. The PA is pushing for the vote to take place on 11 November. According to reports, a UNSC committee considering the matter is due to report on that day, after which ambassadors will consider their next moves. The backing of nine of the UNSC’s 15 members would be required to bring the issue to a vote. At this point, the United States, which does not approve of the Palestinian unilateral strategy, has said that it would use its veto to ensure that the motion did not pass.

In related developments in the Palestinian Authority, an adviser to Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in an interview with TIME that the PA President intends to ask Hamas to agree to the holding of new elections in the PA areas in January of next year.

The sudden flurry of PA diplomatic activity may be connected to its desire to win back global media attention from its Hamas rivals, following the latter’s perceived success in concluding the agreement to free Gilad Shalit, which also saw the release of a large number of Palestinians convicted of terror-related offences.