Press TV - Israel has withdrawn its bid to geta non-permanentseat on the UN Security Council due to itsslim chance of winning.
Israels mission at the UN said it had "decided to postpone its candidacy for a seat on the Security Council after consulting its partners, without providing a reason for the decision.
However, a UN source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Tel Aviv had pulled out of the race for a Security Council seat in 2019- 20 because of its low chanceof winning.
The15-nation Security Councilhas five permanent members and 10elected ones with two-year terms. Five of the non-permanent seats are up for grabs this year, and the UN General Assembly is due to vote next month to decide which countries get them.
Israel, Germany and Belgium were competing for two seats allocated to the Western European and Others Group (WEOG), one ofthe five regional blocs that run the UN.
Israel dropped its candidacy for the UN Security Council seat amid strong opposition by Arab and Muslim states.
Earlier this month, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that acampaign to block Israels bidhad been gaining support even among European countries.
We are doing everything possible to convince as many countries as possible to block the vote on Israels bid for a seat at the Security Council, he said. We need to secure the one-third vote necessary for a veto, and we believe we can, as Arab and Islamic states."
Maliki also stressed that a regime "that violates international laws and conventions, that violates UN resolutions and principles, cannot sit down to dictate the fate of security and peace around the world."
On Friday, Israeli troops fired live rounds and tear gas at Palestinians thronging the Gaza fenceas part of a long-running protest, injuring about 350 people.
Medics said around 50 people were shot and wounded with live fire, three of them critically, and 300 more treated for gas inhalation and other injuries along the Gaza side of the 40 kilometer fence.
Palestinians set up tent encampments at the siteon March 30 for what they call "The Great March of Return".
On Thursday, Ha'aretz cited astatement by the Israeli regime as saying that protests near the Gaza fence amount to an act of war, and thus it isright to respond fatally to the demonstrations in which 45 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks.
The protests take place at a time of growing frustration as prospects for an independent Palestinian state look poor. While the reconciliation talks are stuck, Israel has expanded its settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians are specially angered byPresident Donald Trump's decision to begin moving the USEmbassy to Jerusalem al-Quds on May 14, the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation on Palestinian territories.
As Israel celebrates the event, Palestinians mourn what they call the "Nakba" (Catastrophe) of their people's mass dispossession during the conflict that broke out in 1948.
