Delegates at the United Nations General Assembly snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.
Droves of delegates left the chamber as Netanyahu took the stage to deliver a speech, one week after a UN commission of inquiry said Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Netanyahu himself is also subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.
Highlights
- Delegates at the UN General Assembly walked out, leaving Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to an almost empty auditorium.
- Netanyahu condemned countries recognizing Palestine as a state, calling it 'sheer madness' and praising U.S. support during his speech.
- The UN commission reported Israel committed genocide in Gaza, accusing it of killing, harming, and imposing fatal conditions on Palestinians.
- Netanyahu urged Hamas to free hostages and denied genocide allegations, claiming Israel warned civilians to evacuate Gaza for their safety.
Delegates left in protest as Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to give his speech
Image credits: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Protests led by the families of hostages still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza were also taking place outside of the UN’s New York headquarters as Netanyahu spoke.
Former captives were among those to demand an end to the war and a deal releasing the 48 remaining captives, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive.
In Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had placed speakers around the war-torn enclave to broadcast Netanyahu’s speech.
Speaking directly to Hamas, Netanyahu said: “Lay down your arms. Free all [the] hostages now … If you do, you will live. If you don't, Israel will hunt you down.”
He also told the hostages, “We have not forgotten you,” adding Israel would not rest “until we bring all of you home.”
The speech was also live-streamed to those living in Gaza after Israeli intelligence hacked their phones to show the broadcast, according to Axios.
During his address, Netanyahu criticized the decision of several nations, including the U.K., Australia and France, to recognize Palestine as a state.
“What you’re doing is giving the ultimate reward to intolerant fanatics who perpetrated and supported the October 7 massacre,” he said.
“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7th is like giving Al Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after 9/11.
“This is sheer madness, it’s insane and we won’t do it.”
His comments were met with applause from the U.S. delegation.
“You know what message the leaders who recognise the Palestinian state this week sent to the Palestinians?”
Netanyahu added. “It’s a very clear message: murdering Jews pays off.”
He also denied accusations that Israel is deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza.
Netanyahu denied committing genocide in Gaza after a UN report
Image credits: Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images
Netanyahu said that in a bid to get civilians to evacuate the city, the IDF had dropped "millions of leaflets and sent millions of texts."
He blamed a food crisis on Hamas, saying that if Palestinians do not have food, it is because the terror group "steals it, hoards it and sells it," not because Israel is starving them.
Netanyahu further addressed accusations of genocide leveled at his country by leading human rights bodies and experts.
He asked those still in the room if a country committing genocide would implore the population to evacuate to safety.
To illustrate his point, Netanyahu said: "Did the Nazis ask the Jews to leave?"
On September 16, a report from the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said Israel was committing genocide.
Investigators said that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Those acts were killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.
The Commission called on Israel and all states to act and fulfil their legal obligations under international law.
Protests also took place outside the UN General Assembly
Throughout his speech, Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump for his support and for U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this year.
He described "the curse of Iran's terror axis" – the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah.
"This axis threatened the peace of the entire world, the stability of our region and the very existence of my country Israel," Netanyahu said.
In his concluding comments of the 45-minute speech, Netanyahu said Israel seeks to be a “beacon of progress, ingenuity, innovation for the benefit of all humanity."
Shortly after Netanyahu finished his speech, Trump told reporters outside of the White House that “it's looking like we have a deal on Gaza.”
"I think it's a deal that will get the hostages back, that will end the war, it's going to be peace, I think we have a deal," Trump said.
Further details on the potential deal have not yet been released.