Dozens of diplomats walked out of the UN’s assembly hall on Friday, September 26 as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the podium to deliver his speech.
As the session’s chairman called for order, the hall was filled with a mix of boos and cheers as delegates streamed out, leaving masses of empty seats.
Netanyahu used his address to assert that Israel would “finish the job” in Gaza as “quickly as possible” to ensure the October 2023 terror attack, which killed more than 1,200 people, is not repeated. He described the atrocities committed by Hamas: “They beheaded men. They raped women. They burned babies alive. They burned babies alive in front of their parents.”
The Prime Minister held up a map of the region and crossed out various threats he claimed had been eliminated, such as Hezbollah and Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “Israel rebounded from its darkest day to deliver one of the most stunning military comebacks in history,” he proclaimed.
Netanyahu also spoke directly to the hostages held in Gaza and their captors, claiming Israeli spies had hacked mobile phones in Gaza and that loudspeakers had been set up around the territory to broadcast his voice. To the hostages, he promised: “We have not forgotten you… we will not falter, we will not rest until we have brought all of you home.” To Hamas’s leadership, he issued a direct warning: “Lay down your arms… free the hostages now. If you do you will live, if you don’t Israel will hunt you down.”
