‘Palestinians won’t leave Gaza,’ Abbas tells UN via video

UNITED NATIONS: Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, used his remote address to the UN General Assembly in New York City Thursday to condemn Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as “war crimes” and to reject any notion that Palestinians would abandon their land.Appearing by video from the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because the US had denied him and his delegation visas, Abbas denounced the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, saying, “These actions don’t represent the Palestinian people.” He said the Palestinian Authority was willing to take responsibility for Gaza and that Hamas would have no part in governing the enclave after the war. He also called on Hamas to lay down its arms. Abbas also said no matter how much suffering Palestinians endured, they would remain in Gaza and rebuild it. “It will not break our will to survive,” he said. “Palestine is ours.”