09/25/2025September 25, 2025
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas denounces Israeli offensive and Hamas in wide-ranging speech
Palestinian Authority President spoke via video link to the General Assembly after the US State Department would not issue him a visa.
Abbas used his speech to say his people rejected the attacks carried out on in Israel as he announced that militant group would have no place in any government formed following the end of the war.
“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7 — acts that targeted Israeli civilians and took them as hostages — because such actions do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence,” he said.
“Hamas will not have a role to play in governance. Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority as part of a process to build the institutions of one state, one law and one, legal security forces.”
He added: “We reiterate that we do not want an armed state. Ladies and gentlemen, our wounds are deep and our calamity is great.”
Israel inflicting ‘greatest tragedy of 20th and 21st century’
In August, the UN-backed food monitor, the IPC, in parts of Gaza. Abbas stressed the need to end using “.”
“What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression,” he said. “It is a war crime and a crime against humanity that is both documented and monitored.”
“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,” he added.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is committing war crimes in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority ready to work with US
While calling for the return of all hostages and prisoners on both sides, Abbas also highlighted the need for the complete withdrawal of occupying forces in Palestinian territories.
Abbas said he was prepared to work with US President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, and the UN to implement a plan for the future.
On Wednesday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump has presented proposals to numerous Muslim-majority countries at UN meetings on a Middle East peace plan, with the hope of a breakthrough on Gaza soon.
‘We will not leave our land’
As he ended his speech Abbas urged the Palestinian people to remain steadfast, saying: “Palestine is ours. Jerusalem is the jewel of our heart and our eternal capital. We will not leave our homeland. We will not leave our lands.”
“Our people will remain rooted like the olive trees, firm as the rocks,” he said. “We will rise from under the rubble to rebuild.”
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