President Mahmud Abbas said in remarks published on Sunday that Palestinians will seek U.N. membership despite U.S. "threats" to stop financial aid.

"We will go to the United Nations to obtain an international recognition to the state of Palestine, despite the obstacles and dangers, including U.S. threats to halt 470 million dollars in annual assistance," Abbas told Jordan's government-owned al-Rai newspaper in an interview.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday said Palestinian statehood was "long overdue", a day after its leadership launched a campaign to become the world body's 194th member state.

"The two state vision where Israel and Palestinians can live... side by side in peace and security -- that is a still a valid vision and I fully support it," he told reporters in Canberra.

The United States said Thursday it will veto a bid for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state if it comes to a vote before the U.N. Security Council.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said U.S. opposition to such a move by the Palestinians "should not come as a shock."

Palestinians on Thursday kicked off a campaign of support for their bid to become the 194th state to join the United Nations, calling on U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to back them.

The launch of the campaign, dubbed "National Campaign for Palestine: state 194", is part of the build-up to September 20, when Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is expected to submit the formal membership request.

The Palestinians will not be deterred from seeking United Nations membership, a senior official said in Ramallah Sunday, after reports Washington was trying to head off their bid.

"The Palestinians are going to the U.N. Security Council to ask for recognition for the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders ... and there is no turning back or other choice than this one," said leading Palestinian official Nabil Shaath.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said Thursday that a U.N.-mandated inquiry into a deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza was "unjust" and lacked balance.

The inquiry into the Turkish-led aid flotilla said Israel's commando raid in 2010 was "excessive," according to extracts published by the New York Times newspaper.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Wednesday that Iran's alleged attempts to build long-range missiles and nuclear weapons could lead unnamed countries to launch a pre-emptive attack.

"Its military nuclear and ballistic ambitions constitute a growing threat that may lead to a preventive attack against Iranian sites that would provoke a major crisis that France wants to avoid at all costs," he said.

The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday expressed fear over divisions among Lebanese officials urging them to unify their ranks and rebuild the state on the foundations of equality and justice.

Following their weekly meeting under Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in his summer residence of Diman, the bishops lamented that divisions among politicians were paralyzing government work and preventing it from carrying out its duties towards the nation and citizens.

The Israeli army is training Jewish settlers in the West Bank to repel any violent protests in the territories when the Palestinians try to secure U.N. membership next month, the military said.

Asked to confirm a report in Haaretz newspaper, the army issued a written statement saying it was in the process of training settlement response teams, "to deal with any possible scenario."

A hand-made olive-wood chair, fashioned to look like the blue seats at the United Nations, is set to tour Europe to raise support for a Palestinian bid to join the world body.

The chair was commissioned by a Palestinian NGO which is hoping to rally support for the campaign to secure full U.N. membership for a Palestinian state when the General Assembly meets in New York next month.