On Thursday, a week after the Gaza cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, is scheduled to ask the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinian status to nonmember observer state.

The 193-member body is expected to approve the application. That support has grown since the Gaza fighting, with France and other European nations declaring their backing for the Palestinian bid — in part as a way to bolster the more moderate Palestinian forces, which recognize Israel’s right to exist and seek a two-state solution.

But passage of the resolution — which would allow the Palestinians to try to join the International Criminal Court, where they might be able to bring cases against Israel — would not get the Palestinians any closer to statehood. A negotiated deal with Israel is the only way to ensure creation of a viable Palestinian state and guarantee Israel’s security.

It is not surprising that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has pushed ahead with the one diplomatic move he has left. Peace negotiations have been at an impasse since 2008; the two-state solution seems farther away than ever. His stature among some Palestinians was further diminished after the Gaza fighting. He sat on the sidelines as Israel negotiated a cease-fire with Hamas, even as states in the Middle East like Egypt, Qatar and Turkey backed Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and Europe.