The president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said on Thursday, 25, in a video speech at the UN General Assembly that Hamas “does not represent interests and ideas of the Palestinian people” and will have no space in the Palestinian government. Abbas, who was prevented from traveling to New York after a veto from the United States, said the group will have to “deliver their military weapons and equipment to the Palestinian government.” He also condemned Hamas’s action against Israeli civilians in October 2023.
At the same time, Abbas blamed Israel for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stating that the Palestinians face “genocide and hunger because of illegal occupation” and that the neighboring country “causes hunger and lack of access to humanitarian resources in the Gaza Strip”. For Palestinian leader, Israel “commits crimes against humanity daily” and attacks unarmed civilians and residential villages.
The president rejected the idea of a “great Israel” defended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which would include the permanent occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. He also said that Palestine will follow “the peaceful struggle” in search of full recognition as a sovereign state and the end of Israeli attacks.
