NEW YORK (United Nations) - In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. He also said that the Palestinian people were distancing themselves from anti-Semitism and reiterated his call on Hamas to lay down its arms. Abbas spoke via video link because, he said, the United States had not granted him a visa to physically attend in New York. In the speech, he also accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and called on the international community to recognise an independent Palestinian state.
"We reject all forms of anti-Semitism, but we also reject the collective punishment of civilians and the massacres that Israel commits under the pretext of self-defence," Abbas said. He called on states that have not yet recognised Palestine to do so. He said more than three-quarters of UN member states already recognise the Palestinian state.
The Palestinian president also criticised the international community for the lack of pressure on Israel and for the "double standard" that he said persists in assessing the conflict in the Middle East. He recalled that despite dozens of UN resolutions, Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories remains without consequence. In his speech, Abbas sought to balance criticism of both Hamas and Israel and to present the Palestinian Authority as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. "The future cannot be built on violence and extremism, whether from one side or the other," he stressed.
The tense situation in the region has been ongoing since October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, prompting a massive Israeli military response in Gaza. The conflict has so far claimed thousands of lives on both sides and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains critical.
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