Abbas tells UN via video message to 'not allow another Nakba'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday via a prerecorded video message, calling on world leaders to 'not allow another Nakba.' The term refers to the 1948 displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes.

Abbas delivered his remarks from his office in Ramallah after the United States denied him a visa to attend the gathering in person for the second year running.

Other leaders' remarks

According to the previous day's developments, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told the UN on Wednesday that the disputed Golan Heights would 'remain Syrian' despite ongoing Israeli military occupation of the territory.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant, wartime-toned address, accusing the United States of terrorism against his country and insisting Iran would not 'bend at the knee.'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the assembly that Russian President Vladimir Putin had recruited fighters from 47 countries, including North Korea, Ghana and India, to fight against Ukraine.

Separately, leaders of major artificial intelligence companies urged caution at the UN, warning that increasingly autonomous AI systems could outpace human oversight.