Abbas to deliver key speech on UN bid

Palestinians are set to push forward with a bid for full membership in the United Nations, with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas due to deliver a key speech on Friday, local media said. Because Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the terms of Palestinian statehood have been frozen since 2008, Palestinians have decided to seek UN recognition of an independent "Palestine" in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, an area Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Abbas is due to outline the details of the bid, which will be made via a direct request to the UN Security Council, during the speech in Ramallah. He is expected to hand in an application in person to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday ahead of the UN General Assembly session. Should the bid be successful, Abbas claimed the Palestinian Authority would discuss the finer details of a future Palestinian state in talks with the Israeli leadership. Representatives of the major Palestinian party Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas met in Gaza on Thursday to discuss the Palestinian Authority's upcoming bid as well as the frozen reconciliation deal between the two factions, Maan news agency reported. Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said that the sides hold differing opinions on the efficiency of the UN bid, but agree that national unity is a priority. While most UN members support the bid, approval by the General Assembly would only give the Palestinians non-member state status. For full recognition, the bid would have to be approved by the UN Security Council - and the United States has said it will use its veto to block it. U.S. envoys David Hale and Dennis Ross were the latest in a string of senior diplomats in the region to try to persuade the Palestinians to cancel their UN bid and salvage peace talks.