Hamas has claimed that the walkout of several delegations before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday is proof of Israel’s growing isolation over its war in Gaza.
Taher al-Nunu, media adviser to the head of Hamas’s political bureau, described the boycott as “one manifestation of Israel’s isolation and the consequences of the war of extermination.”
As Netanyahu stepped up to the podium as the first speaker of the day, a number of delegations deliberately left the chamber in protest. Despite this, the Israeli leader was greeted with loud applause from the public gallery, where he had invited supporters to attend.
Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq dismissed this support, saying Netanyahu was left with “nothing but a chorus of cheerleaders who entered the UN hall only to clap in support of genocide.”
In a statement, Hamas accused Netanyahu of spreading “lies and blatant denial” of atrocities in Gaza, including forced displacement and starvation. The group argued that if Netanyahu truly cared about the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, he would halt airstrikes and ground operations rather than “endanger their lives.”
Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 2023 attack, Israel says 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 believed dead.
During his speech, Netanyahu rejected accusations of genocide and the use of starvation as a military tactic. He also vowed to block the creation of a Palestinian state, accusing European leaders who recently recognized Palestinian statehood of pushing Israel toward “national suicide” and rewarding Hamas.
Hamas framed the boycott as a sign of “growing global solidarity with the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and independence.”
The conflict, which began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel, has since claimed the lives of at least 65,549 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza and figures considered reliable by the United Nations.
