At the UN, Abbas pleads on behalf of the Palestinians but rejects Hamas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered an impassioned plea Thursday via video before the U.N. on behalf of the Palestinian people, victims of Israeli "crimes." He reiterated that Hamas would play no role in the future governance of a prospective Palestinian state.

While Israel and the United States consider the new wave of recognition of a Palestinian state to be a reward for Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas affirmed that the Palestinian movement responsible for the October 7 attacks "will have no role to play in governance."

"Hamas and the other factions must surrender their weapons to the Palestinian Authority," insisted the leader, who was forced to speak by video at this U.N. General Assembly in New York after the United States denied him a visa.

"We reject what Hamas did on October 7," which "does not represent the Palestinian people, nor their just struggle for freedom and independence," he continued.

He also rejected "the confusion between solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism," which he said opposed "our values and principles."

Repeating assurances made several months ago, in part to persuade France to take the step of recognition, Mahmoud Abbas called on "all countries that have not yet done so to recognize the State of Palestine."

At a summit organized Monday by France and Saudi Arabia about the future of the two-state solution — Palestinian and Israeli, living side by side in peace and security — about a dozen countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, formally recognized a State of Palestine.

The vast majority of U.N. member states are of this view (at least 151 out of 193, according to AFP checks).

Mahmoud Abbas also did not mince his words against Israel, calling on the international community to "support our efforts to stop the genocide and the occupation."

After nearly two years of war in devastated Gaza, "what Israel is carrying out is not a simple aggression — it's a war crime and a crime against humanity ... that will be recorded in the pages of history books and in the conscience of humanity as one of the most horrific chapters of the humanitarian tragedy of the 20th and 21st centuries," he stated.

Trump unveils new plan

Historic in its momentum, the recognition movement for a Palestinian state nonetheless remains symbolic.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will speak before the General Assembly on Friday, described these recognitions as "a shameful surrender to Palestinian terrorism" that "in no way obliges Israel."

"There will not be a Palestinian state," he declared.

"On Friday, I will denounce those leaders who, instead of condemning the murderers, rapists, and child burners, want to grant them a state in the heart of the Land of Israel," the prime minister added at Ben Gurion airport before leaving for New York, according to a statement from his office.

Netanyahu has himself been the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant since November 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff mentioned a new "21-point plan for peace in the Middle East and Gaza" presented the previous day by Donald Trump to several Arab and Muslim countries during a meeting.

"We are full of hope, and I would even say confident, that in the coming days we will be able to announce some sort of breakthrough," he assured.

Donald Trump wants "to quickly bring an end" to the conflict, a White House official told AFP, adding that the countries present at the meeting "expressed their hope to work" with Steve Witkoff to study the project.

After nearly two years of war on the Strip, the Israeli army launched a major air and ground offensive on September 16 on Gaza City — the territory's largest urban center — in an effort to eliminate what it describes as the last major stronghold of Hamas.