Arab League chief: Palestinians will soon petition UN for full statehood status

The chief of the Arab League said the Palestinians will soon petition the United Nations for full statehood status.

Nabil Elaraby called talks with Israel "a waste of time" and said the Palestinians will soon go back to the UN with a bid for full statehood, the Associated Press reported.

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Last month the UN General Assembly granted Palestine nonmember observer state status, the Times of Israel reported.

The body endorsed a "de facto Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza, areas Israel won in a 1967 war" but it has still not earned outright statehood status, the AP wrote.

"We will return to the UN Security Council," Elaraby said in Ramallah following consultations with Palestinian officials. "Palestine will be cooperating with Arab and EU countries to change the equation (in the peace process) that prevailed over the past 20 years, which was a waste of time."

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The United States has said it will veto any Palestinian attempt in the Security Council, the Times of Israel said.

Israel and the Palestinian Authority talks collapsed in 2008.