The U.N. Security Council will make a formal decision on Palestine’s bid for full U.N. membership this month. Palestine initially submitted its application for U.N. admission in 2011. This is the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, Riyad Mansour, speaking Monday.

Riyad Mansour: “It was a historic moment then, and now that historic moment has been revived again. And we sincerely hope, after 12 years since we changed our status to an observer state, that the Security Council will elevate itself to implementing the global consensus on the two-state solution by admitting the state of Palestine for full membership.”

But the U.S., one of five permanent members of the Security Council, is expected to use its veto power. U.S. representatives say Palestine needs to negotiate statehood with Israel before it is granted statehood at the U.N.

Meanwhile, in The Hague, the International Court of Justice is holding its second day of hearings into Nicaragua’s case against Germany. Germany has denied Nicaragua’s charge that it violated the Genocide Convention by providing military and financial aid to Israel.