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Mahmoud Abbas backs France’s two-state peace plan at UNGA, condemns Hamas and Israel’s actions in Gaza, urges global recognition of Palestinian state, and calls for UN membership.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was barred from travelling to New York to appear in person when he and 80 other Palestinian officials had their visas revoked by the US state department last month. (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the country is ready to work with global leaders to implement the two-state peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians announced by France on Monday, BBC reported.
Speaking through a video at the United Nations General Assembly, Abbas reiterated his rejection of a probable governing role for Hamas in Gaza and demanded it disarm. He also condemned the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
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In his speech, the Palestinian President condemned Israel’s continuous military offensive in Gaza and accused it of committing “one of the most horrific humanitarian tragedies of the 20th and 21st Centuries.”
According to BBC, Abbas was barred from travelling to New York to appear in person when he and 80 other Palestinian officials had their visas revoked by the US State Department last month.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had accused the Palestinian leaders of undermining peace efforts and for seeking “the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state.”
In his speech at the UNGA, the Palestinian President said there would be “national efforts toward reform, including holding presidential and parliamentary elections within one year of the war’s end.”
“We want a democratic, modern state committed to international law, rule of law, pluralism, peaceful transfer of power, and the empowerment of women and youth,” he said.
In view of multiple countries recognising the Palestinian state, he urged others to do the same and asked the UN to grant it full membership.
During the UNGA meet, Canada, Australia, the UK, Portugal, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, and Denmark recognised the Palestinian state.
According to BBC, Abbas endorsed the peace plan announced by French President Emmanuel Macron at Monday’s summit, which was co-chaired by Saudi Arabia.
The plan called for the simultaneous release of the 48 remaining hostages held by Hamas with an end to Israeli military operations across Gaza.
“We urge the Israeli leadership to seize this opportunity for peace, and to issue a clear public commitment to the Two-State solution, immediately end violence and incitement against Palestinians, halt all settlement, land grabs, and annexation activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and put an end to settlers’ violence,” France said in a statement.
Later, Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar responded to Abbas’ speech on X, saying he has not fulfilled his commitment to fight terrorism and accused the Palestinian leader of wearing a lapel pin that signals Israel’s elimination.
“To the West he speaks nice words. But his own people are supposed to draw conclusions from the key he wears on the lapel of his suit. This is the code. This is the symbol of flooding Israel with the descendants of the descendants of the Arabs of Israel who left the country in 1948, and of Israel’s elimination,” he said.
According to Reuters, the key that Abbas wore on his left lapel symbolises the hope of Palestinian refugees to one day return to the homes and properties lost during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War – a mass displacement Palestinians call the Nakba, or “catastrophe.”
New York, United States of America (USA)
September 25, 2025, 23:42 IST
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