Hamas will have no role in post-war Gaza: Palestinian leader Abbas backs Trump plan at UNGA

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, used his platform at the United Nations General Assembly ( UNGA) to condemn Israel’s offence in Gaza, referring to it as a “war crime”. In his address to the international event in New York on Thursday, Abbas also rejected any idea of Palestinians abandoning their land.

Abbas addressed the gathering virtually while he was in the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Interestingly, Abbas had to deliver the virtual address because the United States had denied him a delegation visa. In his address, Abbas also denounced Hamas’s October 7 attack in southern Israel, saying, “These actions don’t represent the Palestinian people.”

He made it clear that the Palestinian Authority was willing to take responsibility for Gaza and that Hamas would have no part in governing the enclave after the war. Abbas called on Hamas to lay down its arms. “We reiterate that we do not want an armed state,” he said.

Abbas makes it clear Palestinians won’t leave their land

Abbas, whose organisation administers part of the West Bank and considers itself the rightful government of a future Palestinian state. In speech after speech, multiple nations expressed support for the Palestinian cause. Abbas thanked the nations for recognising the state of Palestine and noted that his authority had recognised Israel’s “right to exist” as early as 1988 and 1993.

However, in his speech, Abbas described Israel’s conduct in the territory as a “genocide.” The PA president made it clear that no matter how much suffering the Palestinians endured, they would remain in Gaza and rebuild their land. “It will not break our will to survive,” he said. “Palestine is ours.”

In response to his address, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected Abbas’s remarks, describing them as empty rhetoric aimed at appeasing the West. In a post on X, Saar wrote, in part, “Israel cannot be deceived again.” The office of the Israeli prime minister also posted on social media: “The shameful capitulation of some leaders to Palestinian terror does not obligate Israel in any way. There will be no Palestinian state.”

Abbas has been serving as the president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, even though he was elected to the office for only a four-year term. He has been known for repeatedly delaying elections that might unseat him, concentrating power in his office, sidelining rivals and allowing security forces to crack down on critics.