WASHINGTON - A senior Palestinian official said Tuesday they will continue to pursue UN membership, and will not resume direct negotiations with Israel unless preconditions are met.

Maen Rashid Areikat, chief representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United States, told reporters though the US is blocking a UN Security Council vote on Palestinian statehood and many observers say the bid is dead at the world body, the Palestinian Authority has no intention to abandon its push for such a pursuit.

"We will continue to pursue for membership at the United Nations," he said, likening the current disagreement at the Security Council to a "hung jury."

He also said there will be no direct negotiations with Israel unless the Jewish nation agrees to do so on the basis of the 1967 borders and fully freezes settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands Israel occupied in the 1967 war where the Palestinians want to build their future state along with the Gaza Strip.

The envoy said the Palestinians will continue their nonviolent resistance to Israel, and are happy to be admitted to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a full member in late October.

The Palestinians turned to the Security Council for full UN membership in September, despite vehement opposition from the U.S. and Israel and US's repeated threat of use of veto.

In direct response, the Quartet mediators, comprising the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, issued a statement calling on the parties to resume talks within one month, present comprehensive proposals within three months on territory and security, make substantial progress within six months, and complete negotiations by the end of 2012.