Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas has in his address at the UN General Assembly urged that Palestinian support not be conflated with anti-Semitism.
Abbas delivered his speech via a videolink, as the Trump administration denied him and his delegation visas.
He shared his appreciation for “all the people and organisations around the world who protested in support of the rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence and to stop the war, destruction and starvation.”
“We reject confusing the solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of anti-Semitism, which is something that we reject based on our values and principles within the framework of welcoming the outcomes of the International Conference for Peace.”
Mahmoud Abbas
In his address, Abbas decried nearly two years of genocide in Gaza, saying, “What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression.”
“It is a war crime and a crime against humanity that is both documented and monitored, and it will be recorded in history books and the pages of international conscience as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries.”
Mahmoud Abbas
After outlining the situation in Gaza, Abbas spoke about the West Bank, where “the extremist Israeli government continues to implement its settlement disease through illegal settlement expansion and developing projects for annexing settlements.”
He pointed to Israel’s latest E1 settlement plan “which would divide the West Bank into two parts and would isolate occupied Jerusalem from its surroundings.” It asserted that the plan would undermine the option of the two-state solution, “in a blatant violation of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions.”
He slammed Israel’s attack on Qatar, calling it an escalation and “a grave and a blatant violation of international law.”
Palestinian Authority President addressed the increasing “terrorism” of settlers. “They burn homes and fields, they uproot trees and attack villages, and attack unarmed Palestinian civilians,” Abbas told the assembly.
Also, Abbas criticised Hamas attacks. “Despite all what our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the seventh of October,” Abbas said during his address.
He said that the targeting of Israeli citizens and hostage-taking does “not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence.”
“We have affirmed, and we will continue to affirm, that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the state of Palestine, and that we are ready to bear full responsibility for governance and security there.”
Mahmoud Abbas
Abbas insisted that Hamas “will not have a role to play in governance,” saying that Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons as part of the state-building process.
Abbas Outlines Palestinian Authority’s Positions
The Palestinian President outlined a series of points, including the need for an immediate and permanent end to the war in Gaza.
He called for the entry without conditions of humanitarian aid through UN organisations, including UNRWA, and to stop using starvation as a weapon, as well as the release of all hostages and prisoners on both sides.
Additionally, he called for the complete withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip and the rejection of the plans for displacement and putting an end to settlements, “the terrorism of settlers and the theft of Palestinian lands and property under the headline of annexation and stopping the aggression against the status quo in holy sites.”
He stressed that the state of Palestine should take full responsibility starting with the administrative committee, for the Gaza Strip, which is chaired by a Minister in the Palestinian government to manage the affairs of the Gaza Strip for a temporary period and then to connect with the West Bank, all through Arab and international support and with Arab and international presence to protect civilians in Gaza and support the Palestinian forces under the umbrella of the United Nations.
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