Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on the international community to end Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, urging world powers to back full Palestinian U.N. membership and accelerate recognition of statehood as a path toward peace.
Speaking via video link to the 80th U.N. General Assembly after Washington revoked his visa along with 80 other Palestinian officials, Abbas delivered one of his most resolute speeches in years, pledging that the Palestinian Authority is ready to take full responsibility for governance and security in Gaza once the war ends. He stressed that Hamas would have “no role to play in governance” and must hand over its weapons.
Abbas described Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “a documented and recorded war crime and a crime against humanity,” adding that Palestinians are facing “a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement.” He said Israel has destroyed more than 80% of Gaza’s infrastructure, displacing nearly the entire population and leaving famine in its wake.
“The time has come for the international community to do right by the Palestinian people, so that they may obtain their legitimate rights, to be free of the occupation and not remain hostage to Israeli politics,” he said. “There can be no justice if Palestine is not freed.”
