By Editorial,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he is ready to work with world leaders to implement a peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians announced by France on Monday.
Speaking via video at the UN General Assembly, Mr. Abbas reiterated his rejection of a future governing role for Hamas in Gaza and demanded it disarm.
He also called on countries which had not yet recognised a Palestinian state to do so, and for the UN to grant it full membership.
Abbas denounced Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, accusing it of committing “one of the most horrific humanitarian tragedies of the 20th and 21st Centuries”.
But he said he “rejected” the actions of Hamas in its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. That attack, in which about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed and 251 taken hostage, triggered the war in Gaza. END
