UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES – More than 140 world leaders will descend on New York next week for the annual United Nations General Assembly summit, which will be domi-nated this year by the future of the Palestinians and Gaza. One world leader who will miss the gathering is Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president who Washington denied a visa to attend, along with his officials. The humanitarian catastrophe ravaging the small Palestinian territory will top the agenda, two years after the beginning of the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by the unprece-dented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In a break with convention, the General Assembly voted Friday to allow Abbas to address the event by video link while he is represented in the chamber by the Palestinian ambassador. Saudi Arabia and France will co-chair meetings from Monday on the Israeli and Palestinian two-state solution, which aims to see both sides existing alongside one another in peace. This meeting is expected to see the formal recognition of a Palestinian state by several coun-tries, notably France, after the overwhelming adoption last week by the General Assembly of a text supporting a future Palestinian state — albeit without Hamas. International Crisis Group analyst Richard Gowan called it a “symbolic” gesture that could have real significance “if the countries that recognize Palestine follow up with further steps to try and put pressure on Israel to end its campaign in Gaza.”
