The UN Security Council plans to discuss in July the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday.

The Arab League has said it would request UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with east Jerusalem as its capital at the UN General Assembly in September.

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An open debate on the Middle East has been scheduled for July 26 according to a provisional calendar for the Security Council for July.

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"I think (that) will be an occasion to explore the various options that might exist on the Palestinian side," said German Ambassador Peter Wittig, UN Security Council president, in response to a question about when the issue would be debated. Germany holds the Security Council presidency in July.

Wittig pointed to an upcoming Quartet meeting as a possible indicator on the situation.

The Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators - the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - are expected to meet on July 11. The meeting, expected to take place in Washington, will come amid a US push to revive peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Separately, a spokesman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he could not give a firm date as to when the much-delayed findings from a panel set up to investigate the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident would be released.

"I don't think we are yet at the point where the report would be handed over - when that happens obviously we'll let you know," he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Last August, Ban appointed a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer to investigate last year's Israeli attack on an aid convoy bound for Gaza.