Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that the PA "seeks a non-militarized state that lives in security and peace alongside the State of Israel," during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
Abbas, who had to appear via video after being denied entry to the United States for the second consecutive year, claimed that the PA also seeks "security and peace for all," rejecting attacks against civilians by any party whatsoever, terrorism, and extremism in all their forms.
"We combat antisemitism, racism, and hatred. And we believe in a culture of peace, dialogue, and co-existence. We seek a democratic Palestinian state that respects the rule of law and human rights," he added.
Abbas warns about settlement expansion, 'Greater Israel' plan
Abbas also warned that the E1 settler project announced by the current government will "separate the northern West Bank from its south, isolate east Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, and prevent the realization of a geographically continuous Palestinian State."
He then demanded immediate intervention by the United Nations Security Council and the implementation of Resolution 2334, which established that Israeli settlements in the West Bank have no legal validity and constitute a violation of international law.
He the asked the assembly: "What is the world waiting for to protect the Palestinian people, ensure their continued presence on their land, end the Israeli occupation, and implement the two-state solution?"
"This solution guarantees peace for all, instead of the threat emanating from Israeli extremism, which seeks to expand their colonial project towards establishing the so-called greater Israel," he added, warning about "Israeli attacks" reported in east Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, the Holy Sepulcher and Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs.
He also claimed that "settler terrorism is escalating under the protection of the occupying forces, while the crimes of land theft, checkpoints and raids continue," and is also isolating Palestinians in east Jerusalem, with the area "being fragmented and Judaized."
"We highly appreciate the measures taken by the UK, as well as other twelve countries, to protect the two-state solution, and the call launched by the leaders of France, the UK, and Canada to convene a summit in New York on this matter," Abbas pointed out.
"Furthermore, we call on US President Donald Trump to fulfill the commitments that he made to the leaders of the Arab and Islamic states last September, to prevent the annexation of Palestinian land and prevent displacements," he continued.
Abbas claims reforms must allow for independent state, release of funds
Later in his speech, Abbas pointed to the reforms the Palestinian Authority has pushed in the last year. "We have fulfilled our pledge. We completed the national reform program that we had committed to. We strengthened institutional governance, public financial management, transparency, anti-corruption measures, and the rule of law," he said.
"We established a unified, needs-based national system for social protection and social welfare, abolished the previous laws in the area, and obtained an independent international audit confirming the validity of our measures," he added, and detailed that the education system has been "developed in accordance with international standards."
He also reaffirmed plans to hold legislative elections on November 28, the first such vote in 20 years, despite serious domestic doubts that it will go ahead, as he seeks to advance internationally backed reforms.
"We are demanding the release of all our withheld funds. The guarantee of their regular and full transfer. And the lifting of the financial and economic restrictions and the blockade imposed on our people, in accordance with the Paris Economic Protocol agreed upon in the Oslo Convention," he also demanded from the Israeli government.
Abbas also called for the acceleration of the establishment of the second phase of Trump's Gaza Peace Plan. "The transitional period must not be allowed to become a permanent or open-ended situation without any clear time-bound political horizon. 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," he explained.