Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of committing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York today (Thursday).
Abbas, who was forced to make a virtual address after the Trump Administration withdrew visas for PA officials, claimed that Israel was engaged in “genocide, destruction and starvation” in Gaza and cited figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry to say that 220,000 people have been killed and injured in Gaza since the war began and further claimed that the vast majority of those killed were women, children, and elderly people.
The PA chairman also railed against alleged "settler violence" in Judea and Samaria, making the claim that settlers "attack unarmed Palestinian civilians" and "kill them in broad daylight under the protection of the Israeli occupation army." He did not address the phenomenon of terrorist attacks against Jewish civilians.
In a comparatively weak condemnation of the October 7 massacre, when Hamas murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages, Abbas stated: “Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the seventh of October. These actions that targeted Israeli civilians and took them hostage… do not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence."
Abbas also denied that the pro-Hamas protests around the world that began immediately after the October 7 massacre have featured antisemitism, stating: “We reject confusing solidarity with the Palestinian cause [with] the issue of antisemitism — something we reject based on our values and principle."
Abbas laid out a nine-point plan for Gaza, beginning with an immediate and unconditional permanent ceasefire. The plan features the release of "all hostages and prisoners on both sides," effectively calling for the release of all terrorists held in Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of the 48 hostages being held by Hamas.
Abbas stated that the Palestinian Authority under his leadership is ready “to bear full responsibility for governance and security” in the Gaza Strip and that Hamas would not "have a role to play" in governing the enclave. Many of the points in the plan would reverse or oppose moves or statements by Israel or the US, including the freezing of PA tax revenue in response to the PA's continued payments of tens of millions of dollars to terrorists and murderers.