Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has informed the United Nations Normal Meeting “we will not leave our lands” within the face of Israeli assaults.
He informed the summit that the Palestinian flag “will fly high in our skies as a symbol of dignity, steadfastness, and being free from the yoke of occupation”.
“No matter how long the suffering lasts, it will not break our will to live and survive, the dawn of freedom will emerge,” he mentioned.
Mr Abbas was talking just about in New York after the US blocked his entry to the nation for the annual summit, and mentioned the folks of Gaza “have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement”.
He informed the summit that Israel has “imposed a stifling siege on an entire” inhabitants and destroyed greater than 80% of properties, faculties, hospitals, church buildings, mosques, amenities and infrastructure.
“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.
‘We don’t need an armed state’
Mr Abbas vowed to work on a peace plan for Gaza with US President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Nations after the world physique overwhelmingly endorsed a seven-page declaration that goals to advance a two-state answer and an finish to the warfare.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas seems on a display screen
“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7th – 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,” Mr Abbas mentioned.
“We have affirmed – and will continue to affirm – that Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and that we are ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security there. Hamas will have no role in governance, and it – along with other factions – must hand over its weapons to the Palestinian National Authority.
“We reiterate that we don’t need an armed state.”
This was Abbas’s second to be heard
Speeches by Mahmoud Abbas will be dense.
The Palestinian Authority president tends to get into the weeds – an comprehensible behavior, given the intractable nature of the Palestinian-Israeli battle.
However his fashion, mixed along with his age (he’s 89) and his illegitimacy (he has been in energy since 2005 with no elections since then) make him a considerably marginalised determine. He tends to generate eye-rolls somewhat than prompting folks to take a seat up and hear.
But, prefer it or not, he leads the physique – the Palestinian Nationwide Authority (PNA) – that will need to have a key function sooner or later path for Palestinians
His speech on the UN felt a bit totally different. It was extra targeted, much less dense. He clearly recognises the necessity to hit sure buttons and to keep away from the temptations for criticism.
He may simply have criticised Donald Trump. It’s Trump who denied him and his delegation visas to return to the UN in New York.
It’s Trump who’s permitting Israel to proceed its warfare in Gaza. However Abbas selected to not be vital.
He is aware of it is not remotely within the Palestinian nationwide curiosity to be vital or Trump. As an alternative, he mentioned he seemed ahead to working with Trump.
Past that, in an uncharacteristically concise method, he re-emphasised some essential factors.
First, he mentioned he wholly rejected the terrorism of Hamas.
“We reject the actions of Hamas on October 7,” he mentioned.
“They do not represent actions of Palestinian people or their struggle for independence.”
On the longer term, he mentioned that the PNA will “bear full responsibility” for governance. “Hamas will not,” he mentioned, calling for them handy over their arms. “We do not want an armed state,” he mentioned.
He rejected antisemitism and sought to distinguish accusations of antisemitism with the professional drive for a Palestinian state dwelling alongside Israel.
But he warned that Israel was undermining prospects for a two-state answer with its continued settlement actions within the West Financial institution.
Within the noise and the chaos of the Gaza warfare – which now been raging for 720 days – the voice of Palestinians who will not be Hamas-aligned have been arduous to listen to.
This speech was Abbas’s second to be heard.
“Peace cannot be achieved if justice is not achieved and there can be no justice if Palestine is not free,” he mentioned.
“The dawn of freedom will emerge and the flag of Palestine will fly high in our skies.”
Mr Abbas additionally reiterated a sequence of factors to the UN, which included the necessity for an “immediate and permanent end” to the warfare in Gaza and the necessity for unconditional entry of humanitarian support to UN organisations.
The Hamas assault on Israel on 7 October 2023 triggered the warfare in Gaza. Hamas killed 1,200 folks and Israeli figures counsel round 251 have been taken hostage.
In keeping with native well being authorities, greater than 65,000 folks – largely civilians – have been killed within the warfare in Gaza. Its determine doesn’t differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel has rejected claims that it’s finishing up a genocide in Gaza, arguing it’s defending itself and combating towards Hamas, not the Palestinian inhabitants.
Consideration turns to Netanyahu
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will communicate on the UN Normal Meeting in New York after every week that has seen widespread condemnation of the state of affairs in Gaza and requires peace.
Mr Netanyahu will then meet Mr Trump on the White Home on Monday.
Talking on Thursday whereas internet hosting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr Trump mentioned he believes “we’re close to getting some kind of deal done”.
He additionally reiterated his name to “get the hostages back”, including that there are round 20 dwelling hostages and “38 or so dead hostages” in Gaza.
