Abbas will address the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 27, and then file the application for observer state recognition with the world body, said Malki, according to Reuters.

“The application will be deposited and then we will be in touch with the members of the General Assembly, consulting with them on the proper timing for applying,” the minister added.

The Palestinians are currently a UN observer “entity” with no voting rights. Malki told reporters that Mahmoud Abbas will ask for non-member observer status at the U.N General Assembly in his speech in late September, an upgrade they hope will firmly establish the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as Palestinian territories.

Separately, Ron Prosor,Israel’s UN envoy, told local radio stations that Palestinian Authority will likely receive non-member observer status, but says: ‘Nothing will change on the ground’.

The Palestinian bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations would find majority support but would not bring them closer to statehood and peace with Israel, he added.

A simple majority vote in the 193-member General Assembly would be enough to grant Palestinians non-member observer status, bypassing the Security Council  where the United States, Israel’s ally, has previously threatened to veto the bid.

The United States and Israel argue that a Palestinian state can only be established in negotiations with Israel. However, Israeli-Palestinian have been stalled since 2008. A Palestinian bid last year for full U.N. membership lost ground in the U.N. Security Council because of lack of support.