The Palestinian flag has been raised at the UN headquarters for the first time, an unprecedented move for a non-member observer state.

The raising of the flag came shortly after President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that Palestinians cannot be bound by transitional peace agreements because of Israel's lack of commitment to them.

Speaking to the crowd, Abbas dedicated the ceremony to "the martyrs, the prisoners and the wounded, and to those who gave their lives while trying to raise this flag".

Hundreds of Palestinians assembled in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, where they watched the flag-raising on a large screen set up in Yasser Arafat Square.