As the official death toll from Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip approached 33,000 on Tuesday, Palestinians renewed their yearslong effort to have Palestine recognized as a United Nations member state.

Thanks to a 2012 resolution, Palestine can currently participate in the sessions and work of the U.N. General Assembly as a nonmember observer state and maintain a mission at the global organization's headquarters.

On Tuesday, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the United Nations, sent a short letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres requesting that the Security Council review Palestine's pending membership application from 2011.

The letter came after the ambassador told Reuters on Monday that "the intention is to put the application to a vote in the Security Council this month"—specifically, at an April 18 ministerial meeting.

The chairs of the Arab Group, Organization of Islamic Cooperation Group, and Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement also wrote to Guterres as well as the presidents of the Security Council and General Assembly on Tuesday to support the application and highlight that 140 U.N. member states recognize Palestine.