UNITED NATIONS –– In a speech Friday broadcast to the Gaza Strip via loudspeakers and through the takeover of Palestinians’ cellphones, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his country’s efforts to destroy Hamas and told world leaders that Israel was “not done yet.”
“Thanks to the resolve of our people, the courage of our soldiers and the bold decisions we took, Israel rebounded from its darkest day to deliver one of the most stunning military comebacks in history,” Netanyahu said during his United Nations General Assembly address. “But we are not done yet. The final elements, the final remnants of Hamas are holed up in Gaza City.
“That is why Israel must finish the job,” he said.
As Netanyahu came to the podium to begin his remarks, dozens of delegates from multiple countries walked out. Others in the room applauded at the start of his speech and periodically throughout the address.
Netanyahu has faced growing international calls for an end to the war in Gaza, which began when Hamas-led militants killed roughly 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. The Gaza Health Ministry recently estimated that 65,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 167,000 injured since October 2023.
During his address Friday, Netanyahu said that “special efforts” by Israeli intelligence had taken over the cellphones of Gazans to broadcast his remarks live. He called on remaining Hamas leaders to free the hostages and lay down their weapons or Israel would “hunt you down.”
Netanyahu said that Israel has brought back 207 hostages, and about 20 of the 48 remaining in Gaza are still believed to be alive.
He then read the names of the 20 hostages aloud, saying he wanted to speak directly to them by way of speakers pointing into the territory for his remarks, speaking first in Hebrew and then in English.
“We will not rest until we bring all of you home,” he said.
Shortly after Netanyahu concluded his remarks, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that an agreement on Gaza may be “very close.”
“I think it’s a deal that will get the hostages back,” Trump said, without providing additional details. “It’s going to be a deal that will end the war. It’s going to be a dea l— it’s going to be peace.”
Allowing a Palestinian state would be ‘sheer madness,’ Netanyahu says
Netanyahu denounced calls for a Palestinian state, saying that his country would not let other nations “shove a terror state down our throats.”
“Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after Oct. 7 is like giving al-Qaida a state one mile from New York City after Sept. 11,” he said. “This is sheer madness, and we won’t do it.”
In the last few weeks, several countries –– including France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia –– joined some 150 others around the world in formally recognizing a Palestinian state. The U.N. General Assembly also voted overwhelmingly this month to pass a nonbinding resolution, supporting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and urging Israel to commit to a Palestinian state.
The Israeli leader said Friday that these nations sent a message that “murdering Jews pays off.”
The Israeli prime minister’s address came a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave a virtual address to the U.N., during which he thanked countries for recognizing a Palestinian state. Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority, which oversees the West Bank, was prepared to take over governance of Gaza and that Hamas would have no future role in leading the territory.
The Palestinian leader also condemned the planned expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Israel announced in August that it approved an expansion of settlements to divide the West Bank –– a move that Palestinians and rights groups say would divide much of the West Bank and destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.
Later Thursday, Trump told reporters gathered at the Oval Office that he wouldn’t allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank. Possible annexation has been floated in Israel in response to U.S. allies moving to recognize a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu refutes accusations of genocide in Gaza
The Israeli leader vociferously rejected allegations Friday that his country was committing genocide in Gaza and weaponizing hunger.
A United Nations Human Rights Council report earlier this month contended that Israel was committing genocide, and the world’s leading authority on food crisis declared last month that famine was occurring in Gaza City –– both charges that Israel refutes.
Netanyahu called the allegations of genocide “antisemitic lies,” saying efforts by his country to encourage Gazans to leave the largest city in the territory disproved the charge.
“Would a country committing genocide plead with a civilian population it is supposedly targeting to get out of harm’s way?” he said. He also blamed Hamas for stealing food intended for Gazans.
Many Palestinians are unwilling to be uprooted, while others are too weak or can’t afford to leave, international aid groups say.
Netanyahu calls for ‘snapback’ sanctions on Iran
Netanyahu praised Trump for “his bold and decisive action” in bombing Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites earlier this year.
“President Trump and I promised to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and we delivered on that promise,” Netanyahu said, later adding, “We lifted a dark cloud that could have claimed millions and millions of lives.”
Netanyahu called Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium to be “eliminated” and for “snapback” sanctions to be reinstated over its failure to comply with conditions of the 2015 nuclear deal.
A 30-day deadline triggered by France, Germany and the United Kingdom is set to end Sunday. However, the U.N. Security Council is expected to vote Friday on whether to delay the reimposition of sanctions by six months.
During his own address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the United States and Israeli attacks for “dealing a grievous blow upon international trust.”
The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
Christina Santucci
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