RNA - Abbas berated the Tel Aviv regime for the brutal military aggression against the besieged Palestinian territory in an address to the 69th session of the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Israel unleashed aerial attacks on Gaza in early July and later expanded its military campaign with a ground invasion into the Palestinian territory. Over 2,130 Palestinians lost their lives and some 11,000 were injured.
Abbas said what Israel did in nearly two months of conflict was “a series of absolute war crimes carried out before the eyes and ears of the entire world.”
The Palestinian official called for the Israeli regime to face justice for its atrocities in Gaza, saying, “We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment.”
Abbas’s speech immediately drew a furious response from senior Israeli officials, with foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman describing it as “diplomatic terrorism”.
Putting the blame for the failure of the peace process squarely on Israel, Abbas continued: “Throughout the months of negotiations, settlement construction, land confiscations, home demolitions, killing and arrest campaigns, and forced displacement in the West Bank continued unabated and the unjust blockade on the Gaza Strip was tightened.
Abbas’s speech follows several weeks of intense diplomacy with Arab states that also saw him travel to France for bilateral talks. It also follows remarks by President Barack Obama in his own speech to the general assembly criticising the “too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace”.
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