Israel is guilty of war crimes, Palestine’s Abbas tells UNGA

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has decried Israel’s usage of starvation arsenic a weapon, calling retired “the extremist Israeli government” for its continued colony projects that marque a aboriginal Palestinian authorities virtually impossible.

The 89-year-old addressed satellite leaders gathered for the United Nations General Assembly via videolink connected Thursday aft being refused a visa by the United States to question to New York.

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“I talk to you contiguous aft astir 2 years successful which our Palestinian radical successful the Gaza Strip person been facing a warfare of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement,” Abbas said.

Addressing genocide

The Palestinian person began his code by denouncing Israel’s genocidal warfare successful Gaza, which has killed astatine slightest 65,419 radical and wounded 167,160 since October 2023, according to section wellness authorities. Thousands much are believed to beryllium buried nether the rubble of homes and bureau buildings devastated by Israeli aerial strikes.

A full of 1,139 radical were killed successful Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and astir 200 were taken captive to Gaza.

“What Israel is carrying retired is not simply an aggression,” Abbas said.

“It is simply a warfare transgression and a transgression against humanity that is some documented and monitored, and it volition beryllium recorded successful past books and the pages of planetary conscience arsenic 1 of the astir horrific chapters of humanitarian calamity successful the 20th and 21st centuries.”

The UN outlined Israel’s plans to destruct beingness successful Gaza successful a report released connected Tuesday, which recovered that Israeli forces person “systematically destroyed” civilian beingness crossed Gaza implicit the past 2 years.

“Since October 2023, Israeli officials person demonstrated a wide and accordant intent to found imperishable subject power implicit Gaza and to alteration its demographic creation portion systematically destroying Palestinian beingness successful Gaza,” the study said. It cited Israeli demolition of wells, sewage-pumping stations and wastewater attraction plants arsenic good arsenic the demolition of acquisition institutions, mosques and cemeteries.

Last week, a UN inquiry recovered that Israel’s warfare connected Gaza is simply a genocide, a landmark infinitesimal aft astir 2 years of struggle that critics person called a warfare of vengeance without immoderate circumstantial goals.

Israel’s battle connected Gaza intensified this week with astatine slightest 85 Palestinians killed crossed the territory connected Wednesday.

No relation for Hamas

Despite the ongoing hostilities, Abbas was wide astir Hamas. He soundly rejected the group’s actions connected October 7, 2023, saying the targeting of civilians and taking of captives does “not correspond the Palestinian people, nor bash they correspond their conscionable conflict for state and independence”.

Abbas insisted “Hamas volition not person a relation to play successful governance,” saying Hamas and different factions volition person to manus implicit their weapons arsenic portion of a state-building process.

Israel’s amerciable settlements

Abbas turned his attraction to Israel’s settlements successful the occupied West Bank, which are amerciable nether planetary law. He said: “The extremist Israeli authorities continues to instrumentality its colony illness done amerciable colony enlargement and processing projects for annexing settlements.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved guardant past week with a colony enlargement program successful the West Bank that would marque immoderate aboriginal Palestinian authorities virtually impossible.

The Israeli person signed an statement to determination guardant with the project, which would bisect the West Bank, saying helium was fulfilling his committedness that “there volition beryllium nary Palestinian state”.

Abbas called this program “a blatant usurpation of planetary instrumentality and applicable Security Council resolutions”.

“Our radical successful the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and successful the Gaza Strip, are inactive surviving done the tragedies of the Israeli aggression and concern for decades,” Abbas said successful his speech. “Years that our radical person spent nether occupation, killing, arrests and colony and the theft of money, spot and lands, and this inactive continues without immoderate deterrent oregon accountability.”

While concluding his speech, Abbas outlined respective of the Palestinian Authority’s positions, including the request for an contiguous and imperishable extremity to the warfare successful Gaza, the merchandise of each captives and prisoners connected some sides, and the request for a warrant that residents of the Gaza Strip volition beryllium capable to stay connected their lands without displacement.

“No substance however overmuch our wounds bleed and nary substance however agelong this suffering lasts, it volition not interruption our volition to unrecorded and survive,” Abbas said astatine the extremity of his speech.

Where bash negotiations spell from here?

Abbas was cautious not to criticise the US government, but notably, helium was not successful attendance successful New York.

“What’s absorbing is that there’s truly progressive diplomacy going connected here, and Palestine is not contiguous for that either,” Al Jazeera’s James Bays said aft Abbas’s address, referring to a gathering this week betwixt US President Donald Trump and Arab and Muslim leaders. From that gathering came a 21-point bid program presented by Trump that includes a proviso to halt Netanyahu from afloat annexation of the West Bank, Bays reported, quoting US peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff.

While this whitethorn beryllium a notable measurement forward, it is simply a measurement that was negotiated without Abbas.

“It is simply a program that has been negotiated without the Palestinian Authority. Is the Palestinian Authority, nether the Trump plan, going to play a relation successful the aboriginal of Gaza and, for that matter, the West Bank?” Bays said connected Thursday from UN office successful New York.

Martin Griffiths, manager of the Mediation Group International and a erstwhile apical UN official, told Al Jazeera it’s ominous that nary Palestinians look to person been consulted astir the proposal.

“I deliberation it was precise telling that successful the Steve Witkoff comments, helium made nary notation of the Palestinians. I mean that is simply a reddish light, successful my view, if you don’t see the radical nether consideration, and it tells america thing profound astir the imaginable plan,” Griffiths said.