The UN did not grant Palestine full statehood; the closest recent UN step was in May 2024 , when the General Assembly upgraded Palestine’s rights as an Observer State and urged the Security Council to give its full membership “favourable consideration.”

Timeline

  • 1988: The Palestine Liberation Organization declared an independent State of Palestine; this was not a UN grant.
  • 2012: The UN General Assembly recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state.
  • 2024: The General Assembly again backed stronger Palestinian status, but still stopped short of full UN membership.

Clear answer

If you mean “when did the UN make Palestine a state?”, the answer is: it hasn’t formally done that. The UN’s most important action so far was the 2012 observer-state upgrade , followed by the 2024 vote supporting fuller membership consideration.

Why this matters

UN membership requires Security Council approval, not just a General Assembly vote, so Palestine’s status has advanced politically without becoming full UN statehood.

TL;DR: Palestine has been recognized in UN terms as an observer state since 2012 , but it has not received full UN statehood.