Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, used his remote address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza as “war crimes” and to reject any notion that Palestinians would abandon their land.
Appearing by video from the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because the United States had denied him and his delegation visas, Mr. Abbas denounced the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, saying, “These actions don’t represent the Palestinian people.”
He said the Palestinian Authority was willing to take responsibility for Gaza and that Hamas would have no part in governing the enclave after the war. He also called on Hamas to lay down its arms. “We reiterate that we do not want an armed state,” he said.
Mr. Abbas, whose organization administers part of the West Bank and considers itself the rightful government of a future Palestinian state, spoke to an audience that is largely sympathetic to his cause. The war in the Gaza Strip has dominated the addresses of world leaders at this year’s General Assembly, and Palestinian statehood took center stage at a conference hosted by France and Saudi Arabia on Monday.
In speech after speech, world leaders have recognized Palestinian statehood, slammed Israel for a military campaign in Gaza that has killed 65,000 people and displaced more than a million, and called for an end to the suffering of Palestinians. In his speech, Mr. Abbas described Israel’s conduct in the territory as a “genocide.”
Mr. Abbas thanked the countries that had recently recognized Palestinian statehood and noted that his authority had recognized Israel’s “right to exist” as early as 1988 and again in 1993. He also criticized Israeli leaders who have called for territorial expansion, saying that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the state of Palestine.
Israeli officials have suggested that their government could annex at least part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank in retaliation for the Palestinian statehood announcements. But President Trump assured leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority nations this week that he would not allow Israel to annex territory in the West Bank, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Abbas said that no matter how much suffering the Palestinians endured, they would remain in Gaza and rebuild their land. “It will not break our will to survive,” he said. “Palestine is ours.”
Responding to the speech, the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, dismissed Mr. Abbas’s remarks as empty rhetoric aimed at appeasing the West. In a post on X, Mr. Saar wrote, in part, “Israel will not be deceived once again.” The office of the Israeli prime minister also posted on social media: “The shameful capitulation of some leaders to Palestinian terror does not obligate Israel in any way. There will be no Palestinian state.”
Mr. Abbas has been serving as president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005 even though he was elected to only a four-year term. Repeatedly delaying elections that might unseat him, he has concentrated power in his office, sidelined rivals and allowed security forces to crack down on critics. Opinion polls have shown that most Palestinians want him to resign.
Still, this week brought progress on the elusive prospect of Palestinian statehood, as 10 Western countries, including France, Britain, Canada, Australia and Belgium, announced their recognition of Palestinian statehood, joining about 150 countries that had already done so.
Israel and the United States opposed the move, saying it was a gift to Hamas, which set off the war in Gaza by leading an attack on southern Israel in 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and led to the abduction of about 250 others. Gazan officials say more than 64,000 people have been killed in the enclave during Israel’s military operations, figures that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Johnatan Reiss, Natan Odenheimer and Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.
Farnaz Fassihi is the United Nations bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the organization. She also covers Iran and has written about conflict in the Middle East for 15 years.
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