Statement
Statement summary
“I speak to you today after almost two years in which our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement,” Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, said, addressing the General Assembly via video link. That genocide has been “waged by the Israeli occupation forces in which they killed and injured more than 220,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are unarmed children, women and the elderly”. He said these crimes will be recorded in “the pages of international conscience as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries”.
He said, “we reject and completely deplore” a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a “greater Israel”. That involves “expanding into sovereign Arab States in addition to the brutal attack against the sisterly State of Qatar”. He drew attention to the increasing “terrorism of settlers”, as they “burn homes and fields, they uproot trees and attack villages, and attack unarmed Palestinian civilians,” adding: “In fact, they kill them in broad daylight under the protection of the Israeli occupation army.”
“Despite all what our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the seventh of October [2023],” he stated, adding that the targeting and hostage taking of Israeli citizens does “not represent the Palestinian people”, nor “their just struggle for freedom and independence”. The Gaza Strip “is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and we are ready to bear full responsibility for governance and security there”, he said, emphasizing that “Hamas will not have a role to play in governance” and will have to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian national authority. “We reiterate: we do not want an armed State”.
Thanking the States that recently recognized Palestinian statehood, he said his authority had recognized Israel’s “right to exist” as early as 1988 and again in 1993. He underscored that they “rejected violence and terrorism” and “adopted a culture of peace”, but Israel did not adhere to the signed agreements. He thanked people and organizations around the world who protested in support of the rights of the Palestinian people, adding: “We reject confusing the solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism, which is something that we reject.”
He called for an immediate and permanent end to the war in Gaza, the entry of humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages and prisoners on both sides, the complete withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip, and the guarantee that residents of Gaza will remain on their lands without displacement. His party is ready to work with the United States, Saudi Arabia, France and the UN to implement the New York Declaration. “We want a modern and democratic State that abides by international law, the rule of law and multilateralism and the peaceful transition of power,” he said, indicating readiness to conduct elections within a year after the end of the war. “No matter how much our wounds bleed, and no matter how long this suffering lasts, it will not break our will to live and survive,” he said. “The dawn of freedom will emerge, and the flag of Palestine will fly high in our skies.”
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday, declaring that his people were enduring a “war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement” at the hands of Israel’s military in Gaza.
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Read also the UN News story in Hindi, Kiswahili and Urdu about the declaration made by the President of the State of Palestine at the General Debate.
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Speaking via video, he said more than 220,000 Palestinians had been killed or injured over nearly two years of fighting - most of them women, children and the elderly, while two million people were facing starvation under blockade.
More than 80 per cent of Gaza’s homes, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques and infrastructure had been destroyed, he added.
“What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity,” Mr. Abbas said, describing it as “one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries.”
He also highlighted escalating settler violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank, including the “Greater Israel” strategy to expand Israeli territory, which he said threatened to “divide the West Bank”, “isolate occupied Jerusalem”, and “undermine the two-State solution.”
Religious sites across Jerusalem, Hebron and Gaza had not been spared, he noted, citing attacks on mosques, churches and cemeteries.
Condemnation of 7 October
Mr. Abbas condemned the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, saying those actions “do not represent the Palestinian people, nor their just struggle for freedom and independence.”
He stressed that Gaza was an integral part of the Palestinian state and that the Palestinian Authority was prepared to take full responsibility for governance and security there, based on “one state, one law and one legal security force.”
“We do not want an armed state,” he told world leaders, outlining a vision of a “modern and democratic” Palestine based on rule of law, peaceful transition of power, and respect for human rights, youth and women’s empowerment.
Turning to the international community, President Abbas lamented that more than 1,000 UN resolutions on Palestine remained unimplemented, despite Palestinian leaders embracing peace agreements and recognizing Israel since the Oslo Accords in 1993.
Israel, he said, had “systematically” undermined those accords while Palestinians adhered to their commitments, including rejecting violence and restructuring national institutions.
He welcomed the outcomes of a high-level conference in New York earlier this week, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, and expressed gratitude to the growing number of countries recognizing Palestine, urging others to follow suit and support full UN membership.
He said Palestine is ready to work with the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, the United Nations and all partners to implement the peace plan adopted this week, adding that “peace cannot be achieved if justice is not achieved, and there can be no justice if Palestine is not freed.”
Palestinians will never abandon their homeland or their rights, he said.
“No matter how long the suffering lasts, it will not break our will to live and survive,” Mr. Abbas said. “The dawn of freedom will emerge, and the flag of Palestine will fly high in our skies as a symbol of dignity and steadfastness.”
