Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slams continuing Israeli assaults, failure of Gaza peace plan

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 24 (APP): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly via a pre-recorded video address, condemning the ongoing Israeli military attacks and declaring that the Palestinian people are facing “one of the most dangerous periods in their history.”

The address followed a decision by the United States to deny entry visas to President Abbas and dozens of other Palestinian officials for a second consecutive year.

Abbas rejected the U.S. visa denials as “unlawful punitive measures” and criticized Washington for violating its obligations under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement to facilitate diplomat access.

“We reject these illegal punitive measures,” he said.  The Palestinian people cannot be punished because they demand an end to the occupation.

Today, the Palestinian people face one of the most dangerous phases in their history, he said, noting the “genocidal war that has created an unprecedented human tragedy” in the Gaza Strip and the settlement expansion in the West Bank.

“The danger is no longer limited to undermining the two-State solution”, he said; it threatens the very existence of the Palestinian people.  Israeli extremism is expanding its colonial project to create the so-called Greater Israel.

“We warn you today:  do not allow another Nakba to occur,” he said.

Expressing disappointment that many of the aims of Council resolution 2803 (2025) have not materialized, he stressed that the transitional phase must not become permanent.  It must lead to the reunification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, he added, urging US President Donald Trump to honour his commitment to prevent the annexation of Palestinian territory.

“We completed the national reform programme to which we have committed,” he said, noting that the Palestinian Authority has strengthened institutional governance and is committed to building a democratic “non-militarized State that lives in security and peace alongside the State of Israel”.

Saving the two-State solution, however, begins with preserving the land on which the Palestinian State is based and protecting the people who live on it, he said, stressing:  neither military occupation, nor settler terrorism will pave the way to that solution.

Thanking countries who have banned settlement products, as well as the 160 States that recognized the State of Palestine, he called for its full membership in the United Nations.

“We will not leave our homeland, we will not accept displacement, we will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf,” he said.

Abbas highlighted severe hardships, including mass casualties, starvation, structural destruction, and displacement attempts by Israel in Gaza, alongside expanding settlements in the West Bank. He implored world leaders to cease their silence, halt weapon supplies to Israel, and actively enforce a two-state solution based on international law.

The Palestinian president called for the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza to remain under a unified Palestinian government once the conflict ends, promising subsequent presidential and parliamentary elections.

Abbas received a loud applause from the packed General Assembly Hall at the conclusion of his speech.