# United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/23

United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/23 is a resolution of the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly which upgrades Palestine's rights in the United Nations as an Observer State, without offering full membership. It urged the Security Council to give "favourable consideration" to Palestine's request. According to the resolution, the Palestinian mission will now have the right to sit in the General Assembly among other states in alphabetical order, rather than in its current observer seat at the back of the chamber. But the resolution also makes plain that "the State of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer State, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs".
The resolution passed with 143 countries voting in favour, 25 abstaining, 16 non-voting, and nine voting against. The nine countries that opposed the resolution were Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the United States.

## Additional rights for the State of Palestine

The additional rights and privileges of afforded to the State of Palestine are as follows:
* (a) The right to be seated among Member States in alphabetical order;
* (b) The right of inscription on the list of speakers under agenda items other than Palestinian and Middle East issues in the order in which it signifies its desire to speak;
* (c) The right to make statements on behalf of a group, including among representatives of major groups;
* (d) The right to submit proposals and amendments and introduce them, including orally, including on behalf of a group;
* (e) The right to co-sponsor proposals and amendments, including on behalf of a group;
* (f) The right to make explanations of vote on behalf of the States Members of a group;
* (g) The right of reply regarding positions of a group;
* (h) The right to raise procedural motions, including points of order and requests to put proposals to the vote, including the right to challenge the decision of the presiding officer, including on behalf of a group;
* (i) The right to propose items to be included in the provisional agenda of the regular or special sessions and the right to request the inclusion of supplementary or additional items in the agenda of regular or special sessions;
* (j) The right of members of the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the General Assembly;
* (k) The right to full and effective participation in United Nations conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly or, as appropriate, under the auspices of other organs of the United Nations, in line with its participation in the high-level political forum on sustainable development.
The State of Palestine will continue not to have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.

## Voting result

* ★G7Country
* 〇Countries that do not recognize Palestine as a state but approve of the resolution
* ◆Countries that recognize Palestine as a state but opposed the resolution
* ⁂Countries co-authoring the resolution
| Agree (143) 70 countries co-sponsored the resolution | Abstention (25) | Oppose (9) | No vote (16) |
| Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Australia 〇 Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain ⁂ Bangladesh ⁂ Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize ⁂ Benin Bhutan Bolivia ⁂ Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cambodia Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia ⁂ Comoros Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Cuba ⁂ Cyprus Democratic People's Republic of Korea Denmark 〇 Djibouti ⁂ Dominica Dominican Republic Egypt ⁂ El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia 〇 Ethiopia France ★〇 Gabon Gambia ⁂ Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana ⁂ Haiti Honduras Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Jamaica Japan ★〇 Jordan ⁂ Kazakhstan Kenya Kuwait ⁂ Kyrgyzstan  Laos Lebanon ⁂ Lesotho Libya ⁂ Liechtenstein Luxembourg Madagascar Malaysia ⁂ Maldives ⁂ Mali Malta Mauritania ⁂ Mauritius Mexico Mongolia Montenegro Morocco ⁂ Mozambique Myanmar Namibia ⁂ Nepal New Zealand Nicaragua ⁂ Niger Nigeria Norway Oman ⁂ Pakistan Panama Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar ⁂ Republic of Korea 〇 Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia ⁂ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ⁂ San Marino Saudi Arabia ⁂ Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore 〇 Slovakia Slovenia Somalia South Africa ⁂ Spain Sri Lanka Sudan ⁂ Suriname Syria Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkmenistan Turkey Uganda ⁂ United Arab Emirates ⁂ Tanzania Uruguay Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen ⁂ Zambia Zimbabwe | Albania Austria Bulgaria Canada ★ Croatia Fiji Finland Georgia Germany ★ Italy ★ Latvia Lithuania Malawi Marshall Islands Moldova Monaco Netherlands North Macedonia Paraguay Romania Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom ★ Vanuatu | Argentina　◆ Czech Republic ◆ Hungary ◆ Israel Micronesia Nauru Palau Papua New Guinea ◆ United States of America ★ | Afghanistan Cameroon Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Ecuador Eswatini Kiribati Liberia Samoa São Tomé and Príncipe Solomon Islands South Sudan Togo Tonga Tuvalu Venezuela ⁂ |
| Observer: Holy See , State of Palestine ⁂ ||||

## UNESCO Voting record

| Agree | Abstention | Oppose | Not Present to Vote | Ineligible to Vote |
| Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Antigua and Barbuda Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belize Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Cabo Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Congo Costa Rica Cuba Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eritrea France Gabon Georgia Ghana Greece Guyana Haiti Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Jamaica Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya North Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Lesotho Libya Madagascar Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mongolia  Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Qatar Russian Federation Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Slovakia Slovenia Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe | Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Cameroon Cook Islands Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cyprus Denmark Estonia Fiji Finland Germany Hungary Italy Japan South Korea Latvia Liberia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Mexico Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand North Macedonia Portugal Romania San Marino Singapore Switzerland Tonga United Kingdom | Canada Czechia Guatemala Honduras Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Solomon Islands United States of America | Armenia Burkina Faso Burundi Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Eswatini Guinea-Bissau Kiribati Malawi Maldives Rwanda Samoa Sao Tome and Principe Timor-Leste Turkmenistan Venezuela | Benin Cambodia Grenada Niue Sierra Leone |
| Observer: Holy See , State of Palestine and Not a member: Israel, Liechtenstein |||||

## UNESCO World Heritage Committee vote on Jerusalem leg

| Approved (11) | Abstained (7) | Opposed (1) | Absent (1) |
| Armenia  Belize  Cameroon  Congo  Dominican Republic  Guyana  Ireland  Luxembourg  Mozambique  Saudi Arabia  Zambia | Bangladesh  Equatorial Guinea  Mali  Nigeria  Portugal  Romania  Vanuatu | Kiribati | Gambia |
| Approved (11) | Abstained (6) | Opposed (2) | Absent (2) |
| Burundi  Egypt  Gabon  Maldives  Myanmar  Norway  Russian Federation  Serbia  Suriname  Uzbekistan  Yemen | Albania  Cyprus  Latvia  Poland  Solomon Islands  Tonga | Honduras  Palau | Benin  Samoa |
| Approved (4) | Abstained (2) | Opposed (3) | Absent (1) |
| El Salvador  Kuwait  Madagascar  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Antigua and Barbuda  Georgia | Canada  Nauru  Papua New Guinea | Haiti |

## Reactions
### National representatives

* Argentina: Despite recognizing the State of Palestine since 2010, Argentina distanced itself from other countries of the world, and voted against the resolution upon orders of President Javier Milei, who had earlier said that siding with Israel is a "moral obligation". Representative to the UN Ricardo Lagorio confirmed that Argentina voted in accordance with directives from President Milei and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino.
* China: The Chinese ambassador to the UN Fu Cong stated that, "It is the common responsibility of the international community to support and advance the process of Palestinian independent Statehood, and provide strong support for the implementation of the two-State solution and a lasting peace in the Middle East".
* Switzerland: Swiss Ambassador Pascale Christine Baeriswyl voiced Switzerland's firm support to the two-state solution, stating that only a negotiated solution in which two states – Israel and Palestine – live side by side in peace and security can lead to lasting peace. Ambassador Baeriswyl also voiced deep concern over the catastrophic situation of civilians in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, stating that it could worsen further in the event of a major Israeli military offensive in Rafah.
* UK: Barbara Woodward, Ambassador of the United Kingdom, said that her country remains "firmly committed" to the two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. She said that the UK abstained from the vote because "we believe the first step towards achieving this goal is resolving the immediate crisis in Gaza" and she further stated that "the fastest way to end the conflict is "to secure a deal which gets the hostages out and allows for a pause in the fighting".
* US: The United States voted against the resolution, with US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood stating the negative vote was an "acknowledgment that statehood will come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties", adding, "There is no other path that guarantees Israel's security and future as a democratic Jewish State. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace and dignity in a State of their own".