The Palestinians have joined two UN agencies and the global convention to halt the spread of chemical weapons.
Palestinians had joined the Geneva-based UN trade organization UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) Vienna-based industrial development agency UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) and the chemical weapons convention or Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
At the United Nations, the Palestinians have the status of a non-member observer state that allows them to seek membership of agencies and become a party to international treaties.
The move will raise the Palestinian profile in international diplomacy and comes amid a rift with the administration of President Donald Trump over its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The OPCW, UNCTAD, and UNIDO rely on voluntary contributions from UN member-states to fund its activities as well as its regular budget.
The OPCW announced in The Hague earlier that the state of Palestine will become the 193rd state to join the chemical weapons convention.
Only four countries — Israel, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan — have yet to ratify the chemical weapons convention, which aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2012, the United Nations upgraded the Palestinians to a non-member observer state.
Interpol, the International Criminal Court, UNESCO, and now the OPCW all refer to the Palestinian territories as a state.