UNITED NATIONS — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas denounced Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as “genocidal” in an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday. Abbas accused Israel of engaging in “a malicious colonial scheme aimed at making the lives of Palestinians more difficult in their homeland and forcing them to leave it.”

Abbas addressed the gathering virtually for the second year in a row because the Trump administration refused to grant him a visa. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak several hours later to a General Assembly where a majority of members are highly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and many delegations are likely to walk out — as they did last year.

In September, the U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued a report saying that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that the perpetrators must be held accountable. Netanyahu is also facing a tough election at home, and his political future is uncertain.

The General Assembly is competing with another high-profile diplomatic event: Xi Jinping’s meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. Xi, China’s top leader, is among several heads of state who are skipping the annual U.N. gathering in New York this year. The leaders of India, South Africa and Germany have also been absent.

Here’s What Else to Expect:

— Netanyahu’s address: Facing a critical national election, Israel’s beleaguered leader will be taking the world stage with his political future on the line. He is expected to direct his words largely at the audience back home, analysts say, not at the international community, from which Israel is more isolated than ever.

— Other notable speeches: Hungary’s new prime minister, Peter Magyar, will deliver his first address to the United Nations since his surprise win against Viktor Orban. Also speaking will be Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudan, where a brutal civil war has been raging for more than three years; and Nepal’s prime minister, Balendra Shah, whose country suffered a devastating flood last month that was fueled by climate change.

— A Yemeni presence: An address by Rashad al-Alimi, the leader of Yemen’s internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, will also be closely watched. A truce four years ago brought a pause in a long civil war with Iranian-backed Houthi militants who control major portions of the country, but that has unraveled. The Houthis have been carrying out attacks against Saudi Arabia that threaten maritime navigation in a critical Red Sea channel for global oil supplies, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

— Gaza: A meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly will focus on the need for humanitarian and healthcare workers to gain greater access to the Palestinian territory of Gaza. It is largely in ruins since the Israeli military waged devastating attacks there in response to the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel in 2023.

— Protests: Several pro-Palestinian activist groups plan to hold protests against Netanyahu on Thursday outside the U.N. headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City ran for office vowing to carry out an arrest warrant for Netanyahu issued by the International Criminal Court should he visit New York. But the mayor has since acknowledged that city officials do not have the authority to execute the warrant.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Farnaz Fassihi/Dave Sanders
c. 2026 The New York Times Company