Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on September 26. He said Israel had not forgotten about the Hamas hostages, denied striking civilians in Gaza and criticized France and Britain for recognizing Palestine. The speech was broadcast on the UN YouTube channel.
When Netanyahu took the podium, some of the audience left the hall in protest, while others greeted him with applause. In New York, rallies were held in Times Square, both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli. The latter called for the end of the war and the return of the hostages.
Netanyahu stressed that during the year, Israel defeated the Houthis, destroyed “the main part of the terrorist machine” Hamas paralyzed “Hezbollah”. To illustrate, the prime minister again showed the card “Curse”, which he showed a year ago. On it is marked “ terrorist axis of Iran” and the results of Israeli actions. He called on the leaders of Hamas, who are still alive, to lay down their arms, abandon attacks on Israelis and release the hostages.
“If you do this, you will live, if not, Israel will hunt you down”, Netanyahu declared.
He emphasized that the government is mindful of the hostages and will continue operations until they all return home. According to him, Israel has already freed 207 people, and 20 of the 48 still remaining in Gaza are alive. The Prime Minister announced the names of these 20 hostages.
Netanyahu added that his speech at the General Assembly was also addressed to the residents of Gaza. For this purpose, the Israeli army installed loudspeakers on the border, and thanks to the work of intelligence, appeals were delivered directly to the phones of Hamas members.
The Israeli prime minister rejected accusations of deliberate strikes on civilians in Gaza, stressing that “Israel has distributed millions of leaflets and sent millions of text messages” to urge civilians to leave the city.
He also stated that Hamas is “establishing itself in mosques, schools, hospitals and residential buildings”, deliberately putting civilians at risk. Netanyahu also denied accusations of an artificially created famine in Gaza. According to him, if local residents lack food, it is because Hamas “steals it, hoards it and sells it”. In addition, the prime minister sharply criticized the decision of France and Great Britain to recognize Palestine. He declared that the recognition of a Palestinian state is “national suicide” for Israel.
