Overview

• UN member states voted 145–5 to allow Mahmoud Abbas to deliver his General Assembly remarks by videoconference after the United States denied him a diplomatic visa.
• Abbas described Israel’s Gaza campaign as a war of genocide and accused Israeli forces of crimes of war and crimes against humanity, citing more than 220,000 Palestinians killed or wounded.
• He condemned Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack as not representing the Palestinian people, declared the group will have no role in future governance, and demanded that Hamas and other factions hand over their weapons to the Palestinian Authority.
• The Palestinian Authority leader said his administration is ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security in the Gaza Strip after the war.
• He outlined post‑conflict steps including presidential and legislative elections within one year after the war, drafting a provisional constitution, unifying security forces, and he thanked countries that recently recognized the State of Palestine.