RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president returned triumphantly to the West Bank on Sunday, receiving a boisterous welcome from thousands of cheering supporters at a rally celebrating his people’s new acceptance to the United Nations.

An Israeli decision to cut off a cash transfer to the financially troubled Palestinian Authority, after an earlier decision to build thousands of homes in Jewish settlements, failed to put a damperon the celebrations.

But Palestinian officials acknowledged they were undecided on what to do with their newfound status, and were waiting for coming Israeli elections and new ideas from President Barack Obama before deciding how to proceed.

Outside the headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, some 5,000 people thronged a square, hoisted Palestinian flags and cheered their leader’s return from New York. Large posters of the Palestinian leader, whosepopularity had plummeted in recent months, adorned nearby buildings.

“We now have a state,” Abbas said to wild applause. “The world has said loudly, ‘Yes to the state of Palestine.”’

The United Nations General Assembly last week overwhelmingly endorsed an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 war.

The move to upgrade the Palestinians to a nonmember observer state does not change much on the ground, but it carries deep potential significance.

The vote amounted to an international endorsement of the Palestinian position on future border arrangements with Israel and an overwhelming condemnation of Israeli settlements in the areas claimed by the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a return to Israel’s 1967 lines. Israel has control in parts of the West Bank and considers east Jerusalem, the Palestinians’ hoped-for capital, an integral part of its capital.

Israel also continues to restrict access to Gaza. Israel withdrew seven years ago from the coastal strip, and it is now ruled by Hamas Islamic militants who regularly firerockets at Israel.

Israel, backed by the U.S., campaigned strongly against the statehood measure, accusing the Palestinians of trying to bypass direct peace negotiations, which it said were the only viable path to a Palestinian state.

Israel responded to the vote strongly and swiftly. The following day, it said it would start drawing up plans to build thousands of settlement homes, including the first-ever development on a crucial corridor east of Jerusalem.

Although the project is likely years away, if it happens at all, the announcement struck a defiant tone.

Building in the area, known as E1, would sever the link between the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the sector of the holy city the Palestinians claim for a future capital, and cut off the northern part of the West Bank form its southern flank. The Palestinians claim such a scenario would essentially kill any hope for the creation of a viable state.

The U.S., Britain, France and other European states all denounced the plan.

On Sunday, the Israeli government delivered another blow, saying it would withhold more than $100 million in funds it transfers to the Palestinians each month.

Instead, it said the money - taxes and customs duties that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians - would be used to pay off its debts to Israeli companies, including $200 million owed to the state-run Israel Electric Corp., government officials said.

The monthly transfers are crucial for the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to paysalaries to its tens of thousands of civil servants and security forces. Israel has taken similar measures in the past before eventually releasing the money.

At the weekly meeting of his Cabinet, Netanyahu said the Palestinian statehood campaign was a “gross violation” of past agreements calling for disputes to be resolved through negotiations.

“Accordingly, the government of Israel rejects the U.N. General Assembly decision,” he told his Cabinet on Sunday. He also pledged to continue building settlements.

The Palestinians view continued settlement expansion as a show of bad faith and refuse to return to negotiations unless construction is frozen.

Palestinian officials said little was expected to change until Israel holds parliamentary elections Jan. 22. Public opinion polls suggest Netanyahu is likely to win re-election at the head of a hard-line coalition.

Palestinian officials said they were hopeful that Obama would present a comprehensive peace plan after the Israeli vote.

Information for this article was contributed by Mohammed Daraghmeh of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/03/2012