Mahmoud Abbas condemns US support for Israel amid ongoing Gaza conflict in UN address

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the United States for its unwavering support of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, calling for an end to the supply of weapons to the Israeli state. “This madness cannot continue.

The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people,” he declared, addressing the 193-member assembly for the first time since Israel’s military campaign began last October in response to a Hamas attack.

Abbas specifically criticized Washington for its role in facilitating Israel’s offensive, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 41,534 Palestinians since the start of the conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. He accused the U.S. of allowing the violence to persist by repeatedly vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions that called for a ceasefire. “We regret that the United States, the largest democracy in the world, obstructed three times draft resolutions of the Security Council demanding Israel to observe a ceasefire,” Abbas stated. “The US alone stood and said, ‘No, the fighting is going to continue.’”

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The Palestinian leader highlighted the complex relationship between the U.S. and Israel, noting that the U.S. is a key ally of Israel and provides billions of dollars in military aid annually. While Washington, along with Qatar and Egypt, has attempted to mediate a ceasefire, those efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

In his speech, Abbas outlined a 12-point proposal for Gaza’s future post-war, calling for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory without establishing buffer zones or annexing any part of it. He proposed that the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, should oversee Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state—a vision that has been met with rejection from Israel. “We are not asking for more, but we will not accept any less,” he asserted.

Additionally, Abbas called for an international peace conference under UN auspices within the next year and reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution to the long-standing Israel-Palestine conflict. Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, noted, “He made some strong points, he criticized the United States directly, he certainly attacked Israel directly, he laid out some vision for the future.” However, Bishara also pointed out that Abbas has been “missing in action” over the past year, emphasizing that if Israeli leaders cannot reach a compromise with Abbas, they are unlikely to find a more moderate successor.

In a swift response, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon criticized Abbas’s speech, noting, “Abbas spoke for 26 minutes and did not say the word ‘Hamas’ once.” He accused Abbas of only advocating for peace when addressing the UN platform, suggesting that real progress in the region requires direct acknowledgment of all parties involved in the conflict.