Abbas Tells UN Palestinians Face 'Genocidal War' in Gaza
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly by video after being denied a US visa, accusing Israel of a 'genocidal war' in Gaza and colonial schemes in the West Bank.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations General Assembly that Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a "genocidal war" that has produced an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, in an address delivered by video from Ramallah after he was denied a visa to travel to New York.
Abbas said the Palestinian delegation had been refused entry visas for a second consecutive year, calling the measures unlawful and punitive and rejecting the accusations used to justify them.
In his remarks, he accused Israeli occupation forces of subjecting Gaza's population to killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement. He also described conditions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where he said settler expansion is accelerating, the territory is being fragmented and Jerusalem is being isolated.
He alleged that settler violence is escalating under the protection of occupying forces, alongside land theft, home demolitions, checkpoints and raids carried out under a system he characterised as built on racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing and state terrorism.
Abbas framed the events in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as connected rather than isolated, describing them as part of what he called a colonial scheme to make life harder for Palestinians in their homeland and force them to leave.
He also said the Palestinian leadership had welcomed a 20-point plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, along with Security Council resolution 2803 and a roadmap for implementing its second phase. Those steps, he said, were meant to halt the aggression against Palestinians, end their humanitarian suffering, secure the withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza and begin reconstruction. He added that none of this has materialised on the ground.