UN General Assembly 2026: 'Do not allow another Nakba', Mahmoud Abbas warns

Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Thu, 09/24/2026 - 15:44 A US visa ban meant the president of the Palestinian Authority had to deliver a video speech for the second consecutive year

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly via pre-recorded video at UN headquarters in New York City, on 24 September 2026 (Mike Segar/Reuters) Off

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Thursday that Palestinians could be on the precipice of another Nakba if the international community does not act on its stated intention to support Palestinian self-determination, and slammed Washington for punishing his government's "path of international law".

Abbas was compelled to address the United Nations General Assembly via pre-recorded video for the second consecutive year, after the Trump administration instituted a visa ban against all Palestinian officials, as well as Palestinian civil society entities that have worked with the International Court of Justice - a UN body - or the International Criminal Court.

"We reject these unlawful punitive measures, and we reject the accusations and justifications on which they were based," the 90-year-old Abbas said.

"We affirm that we have fulfilled our obligations, carried out a comprehensive national reform programme and upheld our commitment to international law, to shunning violence and terrorism, and to the two-state solution and to peace on the basis of resolutions of international legitimacy," he added.

"The Palestinian people and its leadership should not be punished for demanding an end for the occupation or for turning to the UN, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court."

While US President Donald Trump has all but abandoned the policy of backing the ever-eroding notion of a two-state solution, his western allies, including Canada, the UK, France, and Spain, last year moved to recognise the State of Palestine and open diplomatic offices for the PA.

But beyond the rhetoric and declarations of aid for the PA's security infrastructure and humanitarian efforts in Gaza, there has been no pressure applied on Israel to cease its settlement expansion and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank, or to halt its air strikes on Gaza that have killed a dozen children over the past month.

"We warn you today: Do not allow another Nakba to occur," Abbas said.

"The danger is no longer limited to undermining the two-state solution and preventing the realisation of the Palestinian state. It has now come to threaten the very life and existence of the Palestinian people on their homeland," he continued.

"What is taking place in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are not isolated incidents, but rather a malicious colonial scheme aimed at making the lives of Palestinians more difficult in their homeland and forcing them to leave it."

One-sided effort

Some two million people in Gaza are now effectively crammed into one third of the enclave, and mostly living in tents that lack winter supplies.

Just under 74,000 Palestinian bodies have been identified in Gaza since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and Israel's subsequent genocide in the enclave. That figure is expected to exceed 100,000 as the rubble is slowly cleared to locate remains.

More than 1,400 of them were killed after the ceasefire was declared on 10 October 2025. On Tuesday, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres referred to the futility of ongoing ceasefires as "lesser fires".

In the occupied West Bank, where Israel's crackdown has intensified in tandem with its assault on Gaza, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, the UN Relief and Works Agency said earlier this year.

On Thursday, Abbas lamented his government's "peaceful and civilised choice" to work through international institutions to protect Palestinian rights, as well as its "welcoming" of Trump's controversial 20-point plan for Gaza - both of which, he indicated, appear to have made things worse.

"This was to halt the aggression against our people and their humanitarian suffering, and secure the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and begin rebuilding the Gaza Strip. However, regretfully, we have not seen any of this materialise on the ground," he said.

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"The Israeli killing and aggression continue to claim the lives of men, women, and children in Gaza. Nearly a year has passed since the adoption of [UN] Resolution 2803 and the establishment of the Board of Peace, and only one year remains of the designated transitional period before the end of 2027."

On Wednesday, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who is leading the effort to rebuild Gaza, admitted that the board has faced "delays" since it was formed 11 months ago.

Aid groups also warned last month that the Board of Peace is "failing" in Gaza and has “functioned to further entrench Israel’s unlawful presence" in the territory.

"What is the international community waiting for in order to protect the Palestinian people, ensure their continued presence on their land, end the Israeli occupation, and implement the two-state solution on the basis of international legitimacy?" Abbas asked.

"The transitional period must not be allowed to become a permanent or open-ended situation without any clear time-bound political horizon," he added.

For its part, the PA has fulfilled its obligations towards political reform, Abbas said, including "strengthening institutional governance, public financial management, transparency, accountability, anti-corruption measures, and the rule of law".

To that end, he confirmed Palestinian legislative elections are still set for 28 November and will be followed by a presidential election.

Palestinian elections have not been held in two decades.

Abbas has been in power since 2005.

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