PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations on Thursday that Israeli policies were no longer merely undermining the two-state solution but were threatening the lives and existence of Palestinians in their homeland.
“The danger is no longer limited to efforts to undermine the two-state solution and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. It now threatens the lives and existence of the Palestinian people in their homeland,” Abbas said.
He also criticised the United States for denying him a visa to attend the annual high-level session of the UN General Assembly, describing the move as punitive.
Abbas instead addressed the gathering through a video message that was shown to delegates in New York.
“What is happening in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is not an isolated event, but rather a malicious colonial plan aimed at making life difficult for Palestinians in their homeland and forcing them to leave it,” AFP reported him saying.
Abbas said Israel’s expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank was aimed at separating its northern and southern parts, isolating East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian areas and preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“This requires immediate and responsible intervention by the UN Security Council,” he said.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warned on Thursday that Gaza was facing the worst economic crisis ever recorded.
Israel’s military offensive, launched after Hamas’ October 2023 attack, devastated much of the territory, home to about two million people, before a fragile ceasefire was announced in October 2025.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, violence by extremist Jewish settlers has intensified, prompting Britain, France and Canada to impose economic sanctions.
With 160 countries now recognising a Palestinian state, Abbas renewed his call for urgent and responsible intervention by the UN Security Council.
“Today we tell the world that saving the solution begins with preserving the land on which the Palestinian state will be established and protecting the people living on it,” he said.
Abbas also said Palestinians were moving towards legislative elections on Nov 28, followed by completion of reforms to the Palestinian National Council and then presidential elections.
In a letter sent in June 2025 to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abbas had pledged to hold legislative and presidential elections according to the announced timetable. - September 25, 2026
