NEW YORK, September 24, 2026 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday reaffirmed that the Palestinian people will remain on their land, and will neither accept displacement nor disappear.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Abbas stated: “The Palestinian people will remain on their land. They will not accept displacement, and they will not disappear. Neither military occupation, settlement expansion, annexation, nor settler terrorism can constitute a solution or create lasting security.”
“At the same time, we will not remain waiting, nor will we accept what the governments of the occupying State of Israel decide for us. Lasting security cannot be built on the occupation of another people and the denial of their legitimate rights,” he added.
Highlighting the Palestinian people’s quest for liberation and independence, President Abbas stated: “We have our national project: protecting our people from displacement; preserving our land and its unity; democratically renewing our institutions; building our State; adhering to international law; and exercising our right to self-determination, culminating in the realization of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees in accordance with United Nations Resolution 194.”
Stressing the need for a genuine peace process that end the Israeli occupation, President Abbas said: “We do not want another process designed merely to manage the conflict while realities on the ground change every day. We want a process that ends the occupation, guarantees Palestinians freedom and self-determination, and guarantees Israelis and the States of the region security and peace.”
He highlighted the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation.
“The Palestinian people face one of the most dangerous periods in their history, following long decades of historical injustice, uprooting, displacement, occupation, and deprivation of their natural right to self-determination, freedom, and independence,” he said.
Turning to Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip along with intensifying colonial settlement construction, colonist terrorism, and Israeli occupation forces’ practices in the West Bank, President Abbas cautioned that all that is witnessed in Gaza and the West Bank could very well result in another Nakba.
“Do not allow another Nakba and further massacres like those of 1948 to continue taking place. Do not allow terrorist gangs protected by the Israeli occupying forces to burn Palestinian homes while their inhabitants are sleeping inside. Do not allow our children to live in fear and under threat.”
President Abbas called for the rapid implementation of the second phase. “The transitional phase must not become a permanent or open-ended arrangement without a clear political timetable. Rather, it must lead to the reunification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under the authority of the State of Palestine and its legitimate institutions, in accordance with the principle of: one State, one government, one law, and one legitimate gun,” he said.
Following is the complete statement of President Abbas:
In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
His Excellency Dr. Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly,
His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellencies, Heads and Members of Delegations,
For the second consecutive year, the Palestinian delegation has been denied the entry visas necessary to travel to New York and participate in person in the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.
We reject these unlawful punitive measures, as well as the accusations and justifications on which they were based. We affirm that we have fulfilled our commitments, completed a comprehensive national reform program, and continued our commitment to international law, the rejection of violence and terrorism, the two-State solution, and peace based on the resolutions of international legitimacy.
We also affirm that the Palestinian people and their leadership must not be punished for demanding an end to the occupation, or for turning to the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court. Our recourse to international law and its institutions is a peaceful and civilized choice, not an act hostile to peace.
Preventing the Palestinian delegation from reaching United Nations Headquarters is inconsistent with the obligations of the United States as the host country.
Accordingly, we call upon the U.S. administration to reverse these sanctions and restrictions, return to the language of dialogue and mutual respect, and work with us and with the international community to implement the two-State solution based on international legitimacy and achieve peace, rather than punishing the side that has chosen international law and political and diplomatic action as the path toward securing its rights.
Mr. President, Member States,
I address you today as our Palestinian people face one of the most dangerous periods in their history, following long decades of historical injustice, uprooting, displacement, occupation, and deprivation of their natural right to self-determination, freedom, and independence.
In the Gaza Strip, our people are being subjected at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces to killing, destruction, starvation, attempts at displacement, and a war of genocide that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy. Neighborhoods, cities, refugee camps, institutions, schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, and churches have been destroyed. Every foundation of life, and the future of entire generations, has been targeted.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, settlement expansion is accelerating, the West Bank is being fragmented, and Jerusalem is being isolated and Judaized. Settler terrorism is escalating under the protection of the occupying forces, while the crimes of land theft, home demolitions, checkpoints, and raids continue within a system of laws, measures, and practices based on racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing, and state terrorism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For a long time, through the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, we have warned the international community that these Israeli policies, which violate international law, would destroy the two-State solution. That is precisely what is happening now.
Today, we warn of an even greater danger ahead, one that requires international action to stop it. The danger is no longer limited to undermining the two-State solution and preventing the realization of a Palestinian State. It now threatens the very life and existence of the Palestinian people in their homeland.
What is happening in Gaza, and what is happening in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, are not separate events. Rather, they are part of a malicious colonial plan aimed at making life increasingly difficult for Palestinians in their homeland and forcing them to leave it.
From this rostrum, we make this urgent appeal: Do not allow another Nakba and further massacres like those of 1948 to continue taking place. Do not allow terrorist gangs protected by the Israeli occupying forces to burn Palestinian homes while their inhabitants are sleeping inside. Do not allow our children to live in fear and under threat.
Once again, I ask you: How long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel, or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people?
The world has witnessed the enormous cost in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. What, then, is the international community waiting for before it acts to protect the Palestinian people and their continued presence on their land, end the Israeli occupation, and implement the two-State solution based on international legitimacy?
This solution guarantees peace for all, instead of the threat posed by Israeli extremism, which seeks expansion through its colonial project to establish what is called “Greater Israel” and erase the Palestinian presence.
Mr. President, Member States,
We welcomed President Donald Trump’s twenty-point plan, just as we welcomed Security Council Resolution 2803 and the roadmap for implementing its second phase. We did so in order to halt the aggression against our people, end their humanitarian tragedy, secure the withdrawal of the occupying forces from the Gaza Strip, and rebuild it. Regrettably, however, we have seen none of this materialize on the ground. Israeli killing and aggression continue to claim the lives of men, women, and children in Gaza.
Nearly a year has passed since Resolution 2803 was adopted and the bodies of the Board of Peace were established, and only one year remains of the designated transitional period, which is due to end at the close of 2027.
We therefore call for the rapid implementation of the second phase and for no further time to be wasted. The transitional phase must not become a permanent or open-ended arrangement without a clear political timetable. Rather, it must lead to the reunification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under the authority of the State of Palestine and its legitimate institutions, in accordance with the principle of: one State, one government, one law, and one legitimate gun.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Member States,
The dangers and attacks carried out by extremists against Islamic and Christian holy sites—particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron—which constitute violations of the historical and legal status quo and of freedom of worship, must cease immediately before they develop into a broad religious conflict within the region and beyond. None of us needs such a conflict.
The continuing Israeli attacks on United Nations premises and institutions in Jerusalem and the West Bank also undermine the ability of UNRWA to continue carrying out its responsibilities in providing support and assistance to Palestinian refugees, particularly in education, health care, and vocational training.
We therefore call upon all States and international and regional organizations to continue supporting UNRWA in carrying out its indispensable mission for as long as the refugee issue remains unresolved. This requires continued financial support and political backing, as well as an end to the attacks against the Agency.
Furthermore, we specifically warn against the implementation of the E1 settlement plan, which aims to separate the northern West Bank from its southern part, isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and prevent the realization of a geographically contiguous Palestinian State. This requires urgent and responsible intervention by the United Nations Security Council and implementation of its Resolution 2334, which calls for the cessation of all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
We greatly appreciate the measures taken by the United Kingdom and 12 other countries regarding the protection of the two-State solution and the banning of settlement products. We also commend the call by the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada to convene a summit in New York on this matter. We call upon President Trump to fulfill the commitments he made to Arab and Islamic leaders last September to prevent the annexation of Palestinian land and reject displacement.
Mr. President, Member States,
There can be no separation between Israel’s seizure of land, its dismantling of Palestinian institutions, and its deprivation of those institutions of financial resources. These are all tools leading to a single outcome:
Weakening our people’s ability to remain steadfast on their land, undermining their national institutions, and preventing the realization of their State.
The Israeli Government is forcibly withholding more than six billion dollars belonging to the Palestinian people. We therefore demand the immediate release of all our withheld funds, guarantees that they will be transferred regularly and in full, and the lifting of the financial and economic restrictions and blockade imposed on our people and institutions, in accordance with the Paris Economic Protocol.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
One year after the convening of the International Peace Conference and the issuance of the New York Declaration, I say to you today with confidence and responsibility: We have fulfilled the commitments we made.
We have completed the national reform program to which we committed ourselves before our people and the international community, and we have strengthened institutional governance, public financial management, transparency, accountability, the fight against corruption, and the rule of law.
We have established a unified national system of social protection and welfare based on need, repealed the previous laws and regulations relating to this matter, and obtained an independent international audit confirming the validity of the measures we have taken.
We have continued reforming the education system and developing curricula in accordance with international standards and in cooperation with UNESCO, in a manner that promotes the values of peace, tolerance, and respect for others while preserving our national identity and the rights of our people.
We have also continued on the path of democratic renewal and the empowerment of women and young people.
We have held local council elections and elections for the General Union of Palestinian Students. We are proceeding toward legislative elections on 28 November of this year, followed by the completion of the renewal of the institutions of the Palestinian National Council, and then presidential elections.
On behalf of the State of Palestine, I reaffirm the commitments in which we believe: We seek security and peace for all. We reject attacks against civilians by any party. We reject terrorism and extremism in all their forms. We combat antisemitism, racism, and hatred, and we believe in a culture of peace, dialogue, and coexistence.
We seek a democratic Palestinian State that respects the rule of law and human rights—a demilitarized State living in security and peace alongside the State of Israel.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our commitment to peace did not begin today.
In 1988, our people and their leadership made a historic and difficult decision, accepting a historic compromise based on the two-State solution and international legitimacy.
Today, we say to the world: Saving this solution begins with preserving the land on which the Palestinian State is to be established and protecting the people who live upon it.
The Palestinian people will remain on their land. They will not accept displacement, and they will not disappear. Neither military occupation, settlement expansion, annexation, nor settler terrorism can constitute a solution or create lasting security.
At the same time, we will not remain waiting, nor will we accept what the governments of the occupying State of Israel decide for us. Lasting security cannot be built on the occupation of another people and the denial of their legitimate rights.
We have our national project: protecting our people from displacement; preserving our land and its unity; democratically renewing our institutions; building our State; adhering to international law; and exercising our right to self-determination, culminating in the realization of an independent, sovereign Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees in accordance with United Nations Resolution 194.
We do not want another process designed merely to manage the conflict while realities on the ground change every day. We want a process that ends the occupation, guarantees Palestinians freedom and self-determination, and guarantees Israelis and the States of the region security and peace.
Our vision for peace is clear: a Palestinian people remaining on their land and determining their own future; a Palestinian State alongside the State of Israel; and Palestinian-Israeli peace that opens the way to regional peace, integration, cooperation, prosperity, and security for all.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We thank all the countries and peoples that have stood by our people, provided political, humanitarian, and economic support, and helped us preserve our institutions and provide relief to our people.
We thank the countries that have recognized the State of Palestine, which now number 160, and we call upon those States that have not yet recognized it to do so.
We also call for the State of Palestine to be granted full membership in the United Nations, on an equal footing with the other States and peoples of the world.
Finally, I address the members of our Palestinian people in our homeland and in the diaspora:
Through your steadfast attachment to your land, your unity, and your legitimate rights, you have written the greatest pages of pride and dignity. We will not leave our homeland. We will not accept displacement. We will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf. We extend our hands for a peace based on international legitimacy until our freedom and independence are achieved, and so that everyone in the region may live in security, peace, and good neighborliness.
Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
K.F.
