The Palestinian Authority is claiming momentum toward its effort to declare an independent Palestinian state following a number of international endorsements. In recent reports, the United Nations and International Monetary Fund say the Palestinian Authority is ready to run an independent state. The U.N. report concludes that the main obstacle, however, remains “the persistence of [the Israeli] occupation and the [conflict’s] unresolved issues.” At an international meeting in Brussels, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Palestinian statehood has been given a “birth certificate.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: “What I myself called at the meeting a 'birth,' what amounts to effectively a birth certificate for the reality of Palestinian statehood. We feel it very important for the political process to take advantage of what today’s meeting has concluded: the fact that we Palestinians have crossed the threshold of readiness for statehood.”