The European Parliament has adopted a resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood in principle. A total of 498 MEPs voted in favor, while 88 were against, reports GHN based on RT.
A parliamentary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday could not decide on the matter, opting for further negotiations, but on Wednesday the European Parliament eventually adopted a resolution that "in principle" grants the troubled region statehood.
"[The European Parliament] supports in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution, and believes these should go hand in hand with the development of peace talks, which should be advanced," the motion said. The vote also saw 111 abstentions.
The European Parliament reiterated its support for the two-state solution "on the basis of the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states, with the secure State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security on the basis of the right of self-determination and full respect of international law."
MEPs emphasized the EU's strongest opposition to any acts of terrorism connected with Palestinians' campaign for statehood, however.
Several of the EU's 28 member countries were already in favor of full recognition. Sweden in October became the only EU member so far to officially recognize Palestine as an independent state.
The European Parliament vote comes as the Palestinians are soon to make their case at the UN Security Council in New York, where they will ask for a complete Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem and the West Bank to the 1967 borders in two years' time.
These discussions follow a tense summer period when Israel carried out its controversial Protective Edge operation against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and elicited international condemnation for the number of civilians killed and damage that would take decades to undo.