UN: Palestinians relaunch procedure to become member state. The Palestinian ambassador requested it in a letter to the head of the UN.
Their request was sponsored by the Arab countries who made the approach to the Security Council. In 2011, the Palestinian Authority launched this procedure, but it never came to fruition. Barack Obama threatened to veto it, arguing that the two-state solution should be negotiated between it and Israel. Given the context and international sympathy after six months of intense bombing of Gaza, it will be more complicated to convince the Palestinians not to expose Washington.