THE HAGUE, Netherlands —21 June 2018—The State of Palestine became a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, bringing the total number of OPCW Member States to 193.
The State of Palestine deposited its instrument of accession on 17 May 2018 with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Convention entered into force for it on 16 June 2018.
Background
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – and with its 193 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
Over ninety-six per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.