New York, New York - The United States on Thursday vetoed a Security Council measure on a Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership.

The draft resolution, which was introduced by Algeria and "recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations," received 12 votes in favor, two abstentions, and one against.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the US for vetoing the bid, calling it an "aggression" that pushes the Middle East towards an "abyss."

The US policy "represents a blatant aggression against international law and an encouragement to the pursuit of the genocidal war against our people... which pushes the region ever further to the edge of the abyss", Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's office said in a statement.

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The veto at the Security Council "reveals the contradictions of American policy," which claims to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but at the same time "prevents the implementation of this solution," the statement added.

"The world is united behind the values of truth, justice, freedom, and peace that the Palestinian cause represents," said the Palestinian Authority, which sits in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.