[JURIST] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas [official website] on Monday told US Secretary of State John Kerry [official website] that Palestine plans to submit a resolution for a UN Security Council [official website] statehood bid. The Palestine Liberation Organizaton [official website] specified that:

The draft resolution calls for the resumption of negotiations to solve all final status issues by no later than 12 months after the adoption of the resolution and ensures the end of the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 will come no later than the end of 2017.

Palestenians contend that the negotiations should be made based on the territorial lines in place before Israel took control of West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East War [BBC backgrounder]. Israel believes that Palestinian statehood could further the conflict between the countries. If Palestine gains nine votes in favor of its resolution [Reuters report], the US could use its veto power to support Israel.

In recent months conflict between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory have led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians, prompting the UN and the international community to call for an end to the conflict. In November UN human rights experts suggested [JURIST report] that the Israeli government’s use of house demolition as a punitive measure in response to alleged acts of violence by Palestinians end immediately. In September UN experts stated [JURIST report] that there has not been a single child in the Gaza Strip area not affected by the ongoing conflict. In March another UN human rights expert called on Israel [JURIST report] to cease all settlement activity and immediately withdraw settlers from Palestinian territories. In August UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967 [official website] formally requested access [JURIST report] to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to gather first-hand information into the human rights situation in Gaza.