New York, 26 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) - In an appeal to the UN General Assembly in New York, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday urged the international community to halt the violence in Gaza and stop supplying weapons to Israel.

"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."

The entire world is responsible for what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, said Abbas, but singling out the United States for arming Israel as it kills innocent civilians.

The Palestinian President reiterated his call for the release of prisoners and detainees on both sides. There is no reason to hold women, children and elderly people, he said.

Israel conquered and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967.

Although Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, it still controls the land, air and sea borders. The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state.

Israel launched an air and ground campaign against Iran-aligned Hamas in Gaza to retaliate for a Hamas rampage through southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

The death toll in Gaza stands at more than 41,500 after nearly a year of fighting, according to the Hamas health authority, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Photo: EPA