Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza during his address to the 80th UN General Assembly, describing nearly two years of conflict as genocide against the Palestinian people, according to his speech on September 25.

Abbas speaking to the UN via video link from the West Bank said Israeli forces had killed and wounded more than 220,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly children, women and elderly people, whilst displacing hundreds of thousands and causing starvation among 2mn Palestinians through a blockade preventing food and medical supplies.

Abbas’ speech comes as several European countries and others officially recognised the State of Palestine for the first time, including Australia, the United Kingdom and France, among some.

"What Israel is doing is not merely aggression, but a war crime and a crime against humanity documented and recorded, which will be inscribed by the books of history and the conscience of the world as one of the most horrific chapters of human tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries," Abbas said.

The Palestinian leader condemned Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, describing the E1 “illegal” construction plan as dividing the territory and undermining the two-state solution in violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Abbas rejected what he called Israel's "Greater Israel" plan, which he said includes expansion into Arab states, and condemned attacks on Qatar as a "dangerous escalation" requiring decisive international action.

“We reject and completely deplore [Israel’s plan]”, he said.

He criticised increasing settler violence under official Israeli protection, saying settlers burn homes and fields, uproot trees, attack villages and kill defenceless Palestinians "in broad daylight under the protection of the Israeli occupation army."

Abbas condemned the October 7 Hamas attack targeting Israeli civilians and taking hostages, saying these actions "do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence."

He reiterated that Gaza remains part of Palestine and that Palestinian authorities were ready to assume full governmental and security responsibility, requiring all factions to surrender weapons to the Palestinian National Authority.

Abbas outlined nine demands, including an immediate ceasefire, unconditional humanitarian aid, prisoner exchanges, complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, halting settlement expansion, and the Palestinian state's assumption of administrative responsibility for Gaza.

The Palestinian leader's speech comes as Slovenia, France and Spain were seen to not allow the plane of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through their respective airspace.

The Slovenian government said the travel ban was approved unanimously by the cabinet and follows measures already taken against two extremist Israeli ministers earlier this year.