Netanyahu defends Israeli military actions in Middle East in UN speech
Dozens of delegates walked out in protest as he took the podium, with the Israeli leader labelling them "moral cowards".
Netanyahu defends Israeli military actions in Middle East in UN speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly defended his country’s military operations in Iran, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East in an address to the UN General Assembly.
After dozens of delegates walked out in protest as he entered the chamber, Netanyahu said Israel would keep fighting: "We're going to win. We have no other choice."
Reacting to the walkout, he added: "If there are any other moral cowards who haven't left the hall, please do so now."
The Israeli leader also dismissed claims that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza.
Earlier in the day, in a recorded message, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN that Israeli policies - especially the illegal expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank - endangered "the very life and existence of the Palestinian people on their homeland".
He said this also undermined the two-state solution, the internationally supported framework for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Abbas said Palestinians were facing "killing, destruction, starvation and attempts at displacement, as well as a genocidal war" in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military.
The Palestinian leader spoke to the annual gathering by video link because he had been denied a US entry visa.
Netanyahu, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, launched sharp attacks on countries and leaders who have criticised him.
"They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism - some colonialism. And who's accusing us? Among them are people in Britain and in France. For God's sake, they invented the term," he said.
He also called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "tyrant", accusing him of backing the Palestinian armed group Hamas.
Erdogan told the UN on Tuesday that the injustices suffered by people in Gaza and the West Bank "deeply offends the conscience of humanity".
New York City's left-wing mayor Zohran Mamdani - who had earlier vowed to arrest Netanyahu but later said he lacked the authority to do so - was also attacked by the Israeli leader.
"Since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York," the Israeli prime minister said.
In a statement, Mamdani's office said Netanyahu "used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians".
Netanyahu also thanked US President Donald Trump for his "bold leadership", referring to the air strikes the US and Israel jointly launched against Tehran in February.
"Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilisation," he said.
Several people protesting Netanyahu's visit were detained in New York City. Among them were Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and Emmy-winning actress Hannah Einbinder.
The Israeli military began a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
During the Israeli military campaign, more than 73,920 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Last year, the world's leading association of genocide scholars said Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
A resolution adopted by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) said Israel's conduct meets the legal definition set out in the UN convention on genocide.
Israel has repeatedly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as self-defence.
On 28 February, Israel and the US began launching massive air strikes on Iran, suspecting it of secretly developing a nuclear weapon - a claim denied by Tehran.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states that host US military bases.