Palestinian leader tells UN no role for Hamas in state

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas speaks during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City. Photo / Timothy A Clary, AFP

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has rejected any future role for Hamas and condemned antisemitism, as he appealed for full global support for a state in the face of Israeli annexation threats.

Days after France led a special summit and several Western powers recognised a state of Palestine, the veteran 89-year-old leader was forced to address the UN General Assembly by video after the United States took the unusual step of denying him a visa to come to New York.

Abbas took a moderate tone in his speech as he directly took up key concerns of Israel and the United States – notably on Hamas, which is based in Gaza and is the rival to his Fatah movement.

“Hamas will not have a role to play in governance. Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority,” Abbas said in a speech that received loud applause by delegates watching the video.

He distanced himself from the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas – the deadliest ever on Israel – as well as frequent accusations by Israel’s supporters that the Palestinians are denying the rights of Jews.

“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7 – actions that targeted Israeli civilians and took them hostage – because these actions do not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence,” Abbas said.

“We reject confusing the solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism, which is something that we reject based on our values and principles,” he said.

Abbas also called the nearly two-year Israeli assault in Gaza “one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy of the 20th and 21st century” – by implication putting it alongside the Holocaust.

Abbas called for an interim committee led by the Palestinian Authority to be put in charge temporarily of Gaza, of which Hamas took control in 2007.

Israel rejects state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on Wednesday said that the recognition of the State of Palestine by Western countries “does not obligate Israel in any way”, reiterating that “there will be no Palestinian state”.

US President Donald Trump has staunchly backed Netanyahu in rejecting statehood and has stood by him as Israel expands attacks across the region including to Qatar and Iran.

But French President Emmanuel Macron, despite his disagreements with Trump on statehood, said Wednesday that the US leader joined him in opposing annexation.

“What President Trump told me yesterday was that the Europeans and Americans have the same position,” Macron said in an interview with France 24 and Radio France Internationale.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s golfing friend turned roving global negotiator, said that Trump in a separate meeting with a group of leaders of Arab and Islamic nations presented a 21-point plan for ending the war.

“I think it addresses Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbours in the region,” he told the Concordia summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.”

A White House official told AFP that Trump wants to bring the conflict “to an expeditious close”.

Multinational force eyed

Macron said that the US proposal incorporates core elements of a French plan including disarmament of Hamas and the dispatch of an international stabilisation force.

A French position paper seen by AFP calls for the gradual transfer of security control in Gaza to a reformed Palestinian Authority once a ceasefire is in place.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, one of the leaders who met with Trump, said that the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country was willing to offer at least 20,000 troops.

Abbas’ Palestinian Authority enjoys limited control over parts of the West Bank under agreements reached through the Oslo peace accords that started in 1993.

Netanyahu will address the UN General Assembly on Friday.

-Agence France-Presse