Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received a long round of applause as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, insisting that "we will not leave; Palestine is our homeland," and "if anyone were to leave, it would be the occupier."

He proceeded to accuse Israel of perpetrating a "full-scale war of genocide," dismissing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that Israel didn't kill civilians in Gaza. "I ask you, who is it then that killed more than 15,000 children?" he said.