Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a stark warning to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, saying the Palestinian people are living through "one of the most dangerous times" in their history. Speaking via pre-recorded video from his office in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — after the United States denied him and other senior Palestinian officials entry visas for the second consecutive year — the 90-year-old leader accused Israel of actions that threaten not merely a political settlement, but the physical existence of Palestinians themselves.
Abbas described the situation in Gaza as a "genocidal war" that has created an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe," with Palestinian civilians subjected to what he called killing, destruction, starvation and forced displacement by Israeli forces. He also warned of escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank, singling out the E1 development project — approved by Tel Aviv in 2025 — which, if completed, would sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Palestinians hope East Jerusalem will serve as the capital of a future state. "What is taking place in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are not isolated incidents but rather a malicious colonial scheme aimed at making the lives of Palestinians more difficult in their homeland and forcing them to leave it," he said. As Abbas spoke, the seats of the Israeli delegation in the General Assembly hall sat empty; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address the assembly in person later the same day.
Abbas renewed his call for a two-state solution and urged states that have not yet recognised Palestine to do so. He said the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem must ultimately be governed as a single political entity — pushing back against any arrangement that would treat them as permanently separate. While expressing support for President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan and a UN Security Council roadmap, he cautioned that "the transition period cannot become permanent" and called for concrete steps including an Israeli military withdrawal. "Do not allow another Nakba to happen," he said — invoking the Arabic word for "catastrophe" used to describe the mass displacement of Palestinians that accompanied Israel's founding in 1948.
The US decision to deny Abbas a visa reflects Washington's close alignment with Israel and its distance from much of the international community. At the end of a recent UN conference on a two-state solution, 142 member states backed the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel; the United States and Israel opposed the initiative and did not participate. The White House said the visa refusals were linked to the Palestinian Authority's failure to implement agreed reforms. Abbas's Palestinian Authority — created through peace agreements with Israel in the 1990s and holding internationally recognised but limited authority over parts of the West Bank — has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006, though Abbas announced legislative elections for November, the first in nearly two decades. His domestic standing has weakened over years marked by corruption allegations and the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. Despite the symbolism of broad diplomatic recognition, Palestinian statehood remains unrealised on the ground.