UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The topics of Israel’s war with Hamas and fighting in Lebanon have dominated speeches at the U.N. General Assembly’s meeting this week. On Thursday, one side finally got the podium — including a moment of drama amid the ocean of words from the world's leaders.
The first words from MAHMOUD ABBAS, head of the Palestinian Authority, were a single sentence repeated three times: “We will not leave. We will not leave. We will not leave.” Abbas used the rostrum of the U.N. General Assembly as he typically does — to criticize Israel. But this was the first time he did so since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel that triggered an Israeli military operation that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
He accused Israel of destroying Gaza and making it unlivable. And he said that his government should govern post-war Gaza as part of an independent Palestinian state, a vision that Israel’s hardline government rejects.
Israel has maintained its military operations are justified and are necessary to defend itself. DANNY DANON, Israel’s U.N. ambassador, responded to Abbas’ speech within minutes with a critical assessment. “Abbas spoke for 26 minutes and did not say the word ‘Hamas’ once. Since the massacre of Oct. 7, Abbas has failed to condemn Hamas for their crimes against humanity,” he said. “Only when he stands on the U.N. platform does he talk about a peaceful solution,”
Speaking later Thursday, Lebanon’s foreign minister called for an immediate cease-fire “on all fronts." ABDALLAH BOUHABIB called Israel's actions “acts that are tantamount to war crimes" and warned that continued violence at his nation’s border will “transform into a black hole that will engulf international and regional peace and security.”
Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Friday morning and arrived in New York on Thursday.
Here’s your daily guide to what’s going on at the United Nations this week:
The president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council says he supports a U.N. peacekeeping mission to fight gang violence still overwhelming authorities. It’s the first public support announced by a Haitian government official since the U.S. proposed a U.N. peacekeeping mission earlier this month as one way to secure more resources for a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenya that officials say lacks personnel and funding. EDGARD LEBLANC FILS said he's convinced that a change of status would guarantee the full success of the current mission.
Kenyan President WILLIAM RUTO said his country is committed to international peace citing participation in regional and U.N peacekeeping missions. Ruto said 382 Kenyan officers had been deployed to Haiti and said the support had advanced Haiti’s security, He and thanked member states that have supported the mission, and said insufficient equipment and logistics had hindered further deployment by other nations.
TINY THINGS, OUTSIZED IMPACT: World leaders endorsed a call for action against the threat of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is the term officials use for when bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi develop the ability to shrug off medicines that previously had controlled them. Eight years ago, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a declaration in which countries pledged to track cases and develop action plans. On Thursday, the U.N. held another high-level meeting and adopted another declaration. This one calls for, among other things, sustainable national funding for antimicrobial resistance work and for an independent international panel focused on evidence-based measures to fight the problem. It also set a goal of reducing superbug-associated deaths by 10% by 2030.
RESPECTING ELECTION RESULTS: The United States and Argentina are leading calls for countries around the world to step up pressure on Venezuelan President NICOLAS MADURO to respect the result of July’s elections and cede power. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and Argentine Foreign Minister DIANA MONDINO co-hosted an event on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to urge others to boost their efforts to isolate Maduro ahead of a Jan. 10 inauguration ceremony, at which he will be sworn in for another term despite losing the election to the opposition, according to most analysts and observers.
GRIDLOCK: The General Assembly always brings a suite of police barricades to streets around the U.N. But the headquarters and some other parts of midtown Manhattan were ensconced in a shifting set of blocked streets and sidewalks Thursday evening because of protests related to Netanyahu’s arrival in New York ahead of his assembly speech.
A trio of leaders of international climate negotiations urged colleagues to step up efforts to fight global warming, but outside groups and endangered nations told those leaders to look in the mirror, take their own advice and stop pumping out fossil fuels. At the United Nations, the troika of the current and next two presidents of U.N. climate conferences told other leaders to make their required climate-fighting targets — due next February — much more ambitious. New national plans should be aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, urged the trio of leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil.
Longtime climate negotiation analysts ALDEN MEYER of the think tank E3G and BILL HARE, CEO of Climate Analytics, which tracks emissions pledges, said the negotiation chiefs from the UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil were big on soaring rhetoric, but their own nations’ actions fell far short.
“The line that divides the legal from the just is sometimes merely a crack, but other times it is a deep gap and even an abyss. That gap, that abyss, most often and most severely affects the small nations and states that are the first victims of the clash between force and justice, because it can be an insurmountable obstacle to realizing the right to progress.”
—GORDANA SILJANOVSKA-DAVKOVA, president of the Republic of North Macedonia
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“Doom and gloom are not the hallmark of leadership.”
—DOMINIQUE HASLER, Liechtenstein's minister for foreign affairs, education and sport
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“I can only note that women have been underrepresented this week at the General Debate.”
—MARIA MALMER STENERGARD, Sweden's foreign minister
A strange moment in American politics paid a visit to the U.N. General Assembly, brought there by Fils, the president of Haiti’s transitional council. In his speech, he referenced false claims that Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs — and made clear his country's concerns about the repercussions.
“I would like to extend a brotherly greeting to all friends of Haiti that have shown solidarity towards the migrants from our country — and in particular those living in Springfield, Ohio,” he said. “The passions that naturally arise during an election campaign should never serve as a pretext for xenophobia or racism in a country such as the United States, a country forged by immigrants from all countries, and which has become a model of democracy for the world.”
The debunked information found its international spotlight in the U.S. presidential debate earlier this month, in which former President DONALD TRUMP repeated the claims that have circulated on the internet and been amplified by his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD VANCE. During the debate with Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, Trump specifically mentioned Springfield, saying that immigrants were taking over the city. “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he said.
Number of years since North Korea has engaged with the international community on its nuclear program, according to RAFAEL GROSSI, head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency: 16
“The authoritarian wind’s blowing."
—Mondino, speaking of the refusal of Maduro to step down after analysts agree he lost the election.
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“In a competition of pain, there can be no winner.”
—ANNALENA BAERBOCK, Germany's foreign minister
Netanyahu, facing military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and criticism from many quarters, is scheduled to speak on Friday. Protests around his visit are expected as well.
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AP writers Seth Borenstein, Michael Weissenstein, Matthew Lee, Mike Stobbe and Ted Anthony contributed. See more of AP’s coverage of the U.N. General Assembly at https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations