Key points
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas used a speech at the United Nations to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
- Abbas has called for a total withdrawal of the Israeli army from the enclave.
- Israel’s UN ambassador responded to Abbas in a statement, criticizing his failure to condemn the October 7 Hamas attack.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the United Nations General Assembly to stop the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, saying Israel had almost completely destroyed the enclave and that it was no longer fit for life.
“This madness cannot continue. The whole world is responsible for what is happening to our people,” he told the 193-member General Assembly on Thursday.
Militants led by Hamas stormed Israeli communities on October 7 last year, killing around 1,200 people and returning around 250 hostages to Gaza.
Since then, according to Palestinian health authorities, the Israeli army has destroyed large areas of the Palestinian enclave, forcing nearly all of its 2.3 million inhabitants to abandon their homes, causing starvation and deadly disease and killing more than 41,000 people .
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have unsuccessfully attempted to broker a ceasefire and the release of other hostages held by Hamas.
During his speech, Abbas called for a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an end to attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from ‘enclave. .
“We reject the creation of buffer zones or the withdrawal of any party from Gaza,” he said.
“We will not allow a single inch of Gaza to be taken. The State of Palestine must assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip and impose its full mandate and jurisdiction on it.”
Abbas has said that the Palestinian Authority, which he leads, should have control over all Palestinian territories and that he will hold elections once the war is over.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, responded to Abbas’ speech in a statement, accusing him of only talking about a peaceful solution when he is at the UN and of not condemning the October 7 attack by Hamas militants which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip. .