The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution to enhance the status of the Palestinians within the United Nations.
A majority of the UN's 193 member states voted for the resolution granting Palestine significantly extended rights to participate in the sessions of the UN General Assembly.
The assembly recognized Palestine as an observer state in 2012 despite resistance from the United States. Palestine and the Vatican are the only two non-member states with observer status in the body.
The resolution passed on Friday also called upon the UN Security Council to to "favourably" consider full UN membership for Palestine.
But the United States has signalled it will once again veto the membership bid if an application is put forward to the Security Council, which has the final say.
In all, 143 countries voted in favour of the resolution, with nine countries against. Twenty-five countries abstained, including Germany, which does not recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Israel's closest ally, the United States, was among the the countries to reject the motion.