Palestine

H.E. Annalena Baerbock, President of the General Assembly, H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, distinguished Heads of State and delegations,

Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you,

I speak to you today after nearly two years in which our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation, and displacement waged by the Israeli occupation forces. This war has killed and wounded more than 220,000 Palestinians, the majority of them children, women, and elderly civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands, prevented the delivery of food and medicine, and starved two million Palestinians.

A suffocating siege has been imposed on an entire people, destroying more than 80% of homes, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, and infrastructure. What Israel is carrying out is not just aggression—it is a war crime and a crime against humanity, witnessed and documented, and it will be recorded in history books and in the conscience of humanity as one of the most horrific chapters of human tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, the extremist Israeli government continues implementing colonial policies through illegal settlement expansion and annexation projects, the latest being the construction plan in E1, which aims to divide the West Bank, isolate occupied Jerusalem from its surroundings, and destroy the two-state solution, in blatant violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2334.

This is in addition to the Israeli Prime Minister's announcement of his so-called "Greater Israel" plan, which we categorically reject and condemn, as it even includes expansion into sovereign Arab States. We also condemn the recent brutal attack against the fraternal State of Qatar, which we consider a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law requiring decisive intervention and deterrent measures against such expansionist schemes.

With official encouragement and growing impunity, settler terrorism is escalating: settlers burn homes and fields, uproot trees, attack villages, assault unarmed Palestinian civilians, and even kill them in broad daylight under the protection of the Israeli occupation army.

Holy places—Muslim and Christian alike—in Jerusalem, Hebron and the rest of the West Bank, and Gaza Strip have not been spared from assaults and violations, targeting mosques, churches, and cemeteries in a blatant transgression of the legal and historical status quo and in clear violation of international law.

Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7th—acts that targeted Israeli civilians and took them as hostages—because such actions do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence.

We have affirmed—and will continue to affirm—that Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and that we are ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security there. Hamas will have no role in governance, and it, along with other factions, must hand over their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority within the framework of building the institutions of one state, one law, and one legitimate security force. We reiterate that we do not want a militarized state.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our wounds are deep, our catastrophe immense. Seven million Palestinians still endure the trauma of the Nakba and displacement since 1948. Our people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Gaza continue to suffer decades of occupation and aggression: killings, arrests, settlement expansion, theft of land and resources, without deterrent or accountability.

For decades our people have endured oppression and dispossession, while the occupier is shielded and empowered instead of protection for the people languishing under occupation. Their right to self-determination, freedom, dignity, independence, and sovereignty over the land of the State of Palestine occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, continues to be denied.

More than a thousand UN resolutions remain unimplemented. Numerous initiatives and efforts have failed to bring an end to this tragic situation being endured by the Palestinian people under occupation.

In 1993, we signed a peace agreement. We fulfilled all our obligations: we recognized the State of Israel, Israel recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, we restructured our institutions, amended our National Charter, renounced violence and terrorism, adopted the culture of peace, and worked tirelessly to build modern Palestinian state institutions to live side by side in peace and security with Israel. Yet Israel failed to honor its commitments and deliberately undermined the signed agreements.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just three days ago, we gathered in the high-level International Conference in New York, co-chaired by France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with broad international participation and unified positions reflecting a genuine global will to end this historic conflict through recognition of the State of Palestine, ending the occupation, and restoring hope to both Palestinians and Israelis.

Here, on behalf of the Palestinian people, I extend our deepest appreciation and gratitude to all the States that have recently recognized the State of Palestine and those preparing to do so soon. We call upon all States that have not yet recognized Palestine to do so, and we call for support for Palestine's full UN membership. It must be recalled that we already recognized Israel's right to exist in 1988 and again in 1993, and we continue to do so.

In this regard, we thank France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Andorra for their recognition. We also thank the 149 States that previously recognized Palestine. Our people will never forget this noble stance.

We also highly commend the crucial leadership of the conference's co-chairs, Saudi Arabia and France, as well as the United Kingdom, and thank all States that chaired working groups, participated, and continue to participate in the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. Our gratitude also goes to all States supporting our efforts to stop genocide, end the occupation, and achieve peace.

We deeply value the peoples and organizations worldwide that have demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinian people's right to freedom and independence and for an end to the war, destruction, and starvation. We reject any conflation between solidarity with Palestine and antisemitism, which we categorically reject, based on our values and principles.

In light of the International Peace Conference's outcomes, we reiterate our call today before the General Assembly for the following:

1. The immediate and permanent cessation of the war in Gaza.

2. The unconditional delivery of humanitarian aid through UN agencies, including UNRWA, and an end to the use of starvation as a weapon of war. We thank all sister and friendly states and organizations sending aid to our people.

3. The release of all hostages and prisoners on both sides.

4. The full withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza, rejection of displacement schemes, cessation of settlement activity and settler terrorism, halting the theft of Palestinian land and property under annexation schemes, and stopping violations of the historical and legal status of holy sites—all unilateral actions that undermine the two-State solution in Gaza, the West Bank, including in Jerusalem.

5. The State of Palestine assuming full responsibilities, beginning with the Gaza Administration Committee, chaired by a minister in the Palestinian government, to manage Gaza temporarily and link it to the West Bank, with Arab and international support to protect civilians in Gaza, and support for Palestinian security forces under UN auspices—not as a substitute to them.

6. Guaranteeing that our people in Gaza remain in their land without displacement, and implementing the recovery and reconstruction plan in both Gaza and the West Bank.

7. The release of Palestinian tax revenues illegally withheld by Israel, lifting of barriers, and ending the economic siege imposed on Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps.

8. Support for our national reform efforts, and holding presidential and parliamentary elections within one year after the war's end. Practical steps have begun, including the formation of a temporary constitutional drafting committee to complete its work within three months, transitioning from authority to State. We want a modern democratic State committed to international law, rule of law, pluralism, peaceful transfer of power, and empowering women and youth. We will develop the educational curricula in accordance with UNESCO standards within two years, and we have established a unified social welfare system, abolishing the previous system of payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs, which is now ready for auditing.

9. We declare our readiness to work with President Donald Trump, with Saudi Arabia, France, the United Nations, and all partners to implement the peace plan adopted at the September 22 conference, paving the way to a just peace and comprehensive regional cooperation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We say it clearly today: there will be no peace without justice, and no justice without Palestine's liberation.

We want to live in freedom, security, and peace like all other peoples of the earth—in an independent, sovereign state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in peace with our neighbors. We want a modern, civil state, free of violence, weapons, and extremism, respectful of law and human rights, investing in people, development, technology, and education—not in wars and conflicts.

The time has come for the international community to grant justice to the Palestinian people, so they may achieve their legitimate rights and break free from occupation. Our people must no longer remain captive to the whims of Israeli politics that continue to deny our basic rights and perpetuate oppression, injustice, and aggression.

We will continue along our path, pursuing peaceful, legal, and diplomatic struggle until we secure our rights.

Finally, we say to our sons and daughters in the homeland, our refugees, and in the diaspora: however deep our wounds, however long our suffering, they will not break our will to live and remain. The dawn of freedom will rise, and the flag of Palestine will fly high in our skies, symbolizing dignity, resilience, and liberation from occupation.

Palestine is ours, and Jerusalem is the jewel of our hearts and our eternal capital. We will not abandon our homeland, we will not leave our land. Our people will remain rooted like the olive tree, firm as rock, rising from beneath the rubble to rebuild anew, sending from their blessed land messages of hope, the voice of truth, and bridges of just peace to the peoples of our region and the world at large.

Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.