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State of Palestine President Mahmud Abbas on Thursday ruled out any future role for Hamas in governance as he appealed for full international support for the State of Palestine during a video address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The 89-year-old leader spoke remotely after the United States denied him a visa to attend the annual gathering in New York. His remarks came days after France hosted a summit that led several Western powers to recognize the State of Palestine.
Abbas, leader of the Fatah movement that dominates the Palestinian Authority, said Hamas and other armed groups would be required to disarm.
"Hamas will not have a role to play in governance. Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority," Abbas said, drawing strong applause from delegates.
He emphasized that the State of Palestine should oversee an interim administration in Gaza, which Hamas has controlled since 2007.
Abbas distanced himself from the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel by Hamas, describing it as contrary to Palestinian aspirations.
"Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7 — actions that targeted Israeli civilians and took them hostage — because these actions do not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence," he said.
He also rejected accusations that support for the Palestinian cause equates to antisemitism. "We reject confusing the solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the issue of antisemitism, which is something that we reject based on our values and principles," Abbas said.
Abbas described Israel’s nearly two-year military offensive in Gaza as "one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy of the 20th and 21st century," implicitly likening it to the Holocaust.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by reiterating his government’s rejection of the State of Palestine. "Recognition of the State of Palestine by Western countries does not obligate Israel in any way," he said, adding that "there will be no Palestinian state."
U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to back Netanyahu and oppose the State of Palestine, even as he and French President Emmanuel Macron aligned on rejecting the annexation of Palestinian territories.
Macron told French media that Trump confirmed the United States and Europe now share the same position against annexation.
Trump’s adviser Steve Witkoff said the U.S. president had presented Arab and Islamic leaders with a 21-point plan to end the war, which he claimed balanced Israeli and regional concerns. A White House official later said Trump wanted to bring the conflict "to an expeditious close."
Macron added that the U.S. proposal includes key French ideas, such as disarming Hamas and deploying an international stabilization force in Gaza. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, signaled readiness to contribute at least 20,000 troops to such a mission.
Abbas’s remarks also come as the State of Palestine continues to exercise limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank under the Oslo accords signed since 1993.
Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver his own address to the UN General Assembly on Friday.
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