LONDON: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for an end to the war in Gaza and condemned Israel’s “expansionary plans,” in a virtual address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
He demanded “intervention” to stop Israel’s war in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank, warning that plans for a “Greater Israel” would encroach upon the territory of other Arab states.
Gaza is “a war of genocide, destruction, starvation, and displacement,” Abbas said, adding that more than 220,000 Palestinians — the majority of them women, children and the elderly — have been killed or injured in the enclave since October 2023.
He accused Israel of starving more than 2 million people, and of destroying 80 percent of Gaza’s buildings.
“What Israel is carrying out isn’t merely an aggression. It’s a war crime and a crime against humanity that’s both documented and monitored,” he said.
