United Nations: Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, riding high on rising support for statehood while also facing relentless Israeli attacks, on Thursday, denounced Hamas and offered to work with the US President Donald Trump to implement a peace plan endorsed by the UN.
Speaking through a video link after the US barred him from coming to New York for the UN General Assembly’s high-level session, he declared, “Palestine is ours. We will not leave our land. We will not leave our homeland. Our people are rooted like the olive trees.”
He said that he was ready to work with the US, France, and Saudi Arabia to implement the peace plan adopted this week by the UN General Assembly, where the number of countries recognising Palestine’s statehood rose to more than 150.
“There can be no justice if Palestine is not free,” he said while reiterating Palestine’s recognition of Israel.
Abbas said the actions of Hamas, which carried out an attack on Israel in 2023 killing more than 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, “don’t represent the Palestinian people”.
He added that Hamas should release the hostages still held by it and demanded that Hamas and other factions disarm.
“We do not want an armed state,” he said.
“If Palestine Authority is given control of Gaza when the conflict ends, Hamas, along with other factions, must hand over their weapons to it and will be barred from any role in the territory,” Abbas added.
Some Israeli leaders have called for taking over the West Bank and Gaza, nullifying the possibility of a Palestine state under the two-state solution endorsed by the UN.
Trump has assured Arab and Muslim leaders, who met him on Tuesday, that he would not allow Israel to annex the Palestine territories, according to media reports quoting sources at the meeting.
This was a change from an earlier proposal he made to take over Gaza and turn parts of it into a resort.
However, Trump has opposed a two-state solution and the recognition of Palestine, including by US allies like Britain and France.
Abbas spoke using a sheaf of paper at a desk with a blue background with UN logos and lettered with “80th Session of the UN General Assembly”.
Scores of international leaders who spoke before him had expressed support for Palestine.
He also denounced what he called “genocide” by Israel, and the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
He suggested the deployment of an Arab and international presence after Israel leaves Gaza when the conflict is ended to protect Palestinians.
(IANS)
