The president of the Palestinian Authority has condemned Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip as a “war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement.” Mahmoud Abbas made the remarks in a video address Thursday to the United Nations General Assembly. 

President Mahmoud Abbas: “Today we say clearly: Peace cannot be achieved if justice is not achieved, and there can be no justice if Palestine is not freed.”

Abbas spoke by video link after the Trump administration refused to grant him a visa to travel to New York in person. Abbas said he was ready to work with world leaders to implement a peace plan announced by France on Monday. He condemned Hamas’s actions on October 7, 2023, and said the group would not have a role to play in any future governance of an independent state of Palestine.