Abbas denounces Israel’s ‘War of Genocide’ in UNGA speech

United Nations (TIP)- On the third day of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the world body via video link, following the Trump administration‘s refusal to issue visas to him and his delegation.
In his remarks, Abbas made it clear that he does not endorse the actions of Hamas during the October 7 assault on Israel. “Despite all what our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the seventh of October,” he said, adding that the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages does “not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence.”
Abbas reaffirmed that the Gaza Strip remains a central part of the Palestinian state. “We have affirmed, and we will continue to affirm, that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the state of Palestine, and that we are ready to bear full responsibility for governance and security there,” he stated.
Rejecting any role for Hamas in the future government, Abbas insisted, “Hamas will not have a role to play in governance,” stressing that armed groups must disarm. “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 force. We reiterate that we do not want an armed state. Ladies and gentlemen, our wounds are deep and our calamity is great.”
Abbas also turned attention to the broader Palestinian struggle, noting, “Seven million Palestinians are still living the tragedies of the Nakba and displacement since 1948.” He said the people of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza continue to endure “the tragedies of the Israeli aggression and occupation for decades,” citing years of “occupation, killing, arrests and settlement and the theft of money, property and lands.”
Highlighting global inaction, Abbas pointed out, “More than a thousand resolutions at the United Nations, not one of them was implemented. There have been many efforts, many international initiatives, without reaching an end to this tragic situation that the Palestinian people are living under the yoke of occupation.”
He reminded the Assembly that the Palestinian authorities had adhered to the Oslo Accords. “We restructured our institutions, and we amended our national charter, and we rejected violence and terrorism and we adopted a culture of peace,” Abbas said. “We made all our efforts to build the institutions of a modern Palestinian state that lives side by side in peace and security with Israel, but Israel did not adhere to signed agreements and has worked systematically on undermining them.”