On Thursday, September 26, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the UN General Assembly to put an end to the conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, claiming that Israel had nearly completely destroyed Gaza and that it was unfit for human habitation.
“This madness cannot continue. The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people,” he told the 193-member General Assembly.
“This insanity has to stop. “End the conflict in Gaza,” said Palestinian President Abbas, urging UN members to take action
According to Israeli estimates, the Israel-Gaza conflict started on October 7, 2023, when gunmen from Hamas invaded Israeli villages, killing over 1,200 people and capturing roughly 250 prisoners before fleeing to Gaza.
Since that attack, Israel’s military has bombed the besieged Palestinian enclave, driving nearly all of its 2.3 million people from their homes, killing more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Abbas called for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza and a full withdrawal of the Israeli military from the enclave.
“We refuse the establishment of buffer zones or taking any part from Gaza,” he said. “We will not allow a single centimetre of Gaza to be taken.”
“The State of Palestine must shoulder its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip and impose its full mandate on it and jurisdiction on it, including the border checkpoints, especially the Rafah international border,” Abbas said.
Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority, which he leads, should have control over all Palestinian territories and that it would hold elections once the war is over.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon responded to Abbas’ speech in a statement, accusing him of only talking about a peaceful solution when he is at the United Nations but refusing to condemn the October 7 attack by Hamas militants that triggered the war in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.