Israel’s policies threaten ‘very existence’ of Palestinians, Abbas tells UN

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has ⁠warned the United Nations General Assembly that Israel’s policies go beyond undermining a two-state solution and now threaten the “very life and existence” of Palestinians.

Abbas’s prerecorded remarks from his office in Ramallah were broadcast before the assembly on Thursday after the United States denied visas to a Palestinian delegation to attend the gathering for the second year in a row.

Abbas said Palestinians were living through one of the “most dangerous periods” of their history, citing “killing, destruction, starvation, attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war that has created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe”.

He said Israeli forces were erasing Palestinian lives in Gaza.

“Neighbourhoods, cities, refugee camps, institutions, schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, and churches have been destroyed. Every foundation of life, and the future of entire generations, has been targeted.”

He called Israeli activities in the occupied West Bank a “malicious colonial plan” and said Palestinians were being pushed into forced displacement, with “realities on the ground” changing every day in reference to Israeli settlements being built on Palestinian land, a practice that is illegal under international law.

Abbas urged the international community to implement the two-state solution on the basis of international law to guarantee security.

“Saving the solution begins with preserving the land on which the Palestinian state is to be established” and protecting the people who live on it, he said, adding that Palestinians could live “alongside the state of Israel”.