Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the United Nations to stop Israel's crimes and suspend the country's membership in the global body.
"I call for suspending Israel’s membership in the General Assembly until it fulfills its obligations and the conditions for accepting its membership and implements all the resolutions of the U.N. and its bodies,” he said in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"We will not leave, we will not leave, we will not leave. Palestine is our homeland. It is the land of our fathers, our grandfathers. It will remain ours, and if anyone were to leave, it would be the occupiers," Abbas said in his address at the assembly.
Speaking to the international community, he continued: "Stop this crime. Stop it now. Stop killing children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop sending weapons to Israel. This madness cannot continue."
Israel has long violated numerous U.N. resolutions concerning the Palestinian issue, including its occupation of the West Bank, settlement expansion, and disregarding calls to halt military operations in Gaza, where it has killed more than 41,000 people since last October.
Abbas said Palestine would formally submit a request to the president of the General Assembly on this matter.
He said Israel, "which refuses to implement U.N. resolutions and has called for the removal of the U.N. building, is not worthy of membership in this international organization.”
Abbas asserted that "Palestine must assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip to exercise its full jurisdiction over it, including the border crossings, as part of a comprehensive plan.”
He also expressed regret over the U.S. administration "vetoing three Security Council resolutions calling on Israel to agree to a cease-fire, and on top of that, it has provided it with deadly weapons.”
Condemning Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's call to build a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Abbas said such statements are meant to "ignite a religious war that will burn everything.”
"This reckless minister and his ilk must be condemned and stopped,” he said.
The Palestinian leader said, "Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings are the exclusive property of Muslims, and this was approved by the League of Nations in 1930, and we will not accept anything else, no matter the circumstances.”
Regarding Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip, Abbas said "Israel has reoccupied the entire Gaza Strip and almost completely destroyed it, making it an uninhabitable place.
