Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he welcomed President Donald Trump’s peace plan as a concept, but that it hadn’t materialized in the region.
Abbas, who spoke to the U.N. General Assembly via a prerecorded video address because his visa to the United States was denied, offered some praise for Trump, saying he welcomed the plan, accompanying Security Council resolution, and road map for implementing the second phase.
“This was to halt the aggression against our people, end their humanitarian suffering, and secure the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip and begin rebuilding the Gaza Strip,” he said.
However, speaking almost one year after the peace deal was signed, Abbas said none of the agreement had actually been implemented.
“Regretfully, we have not seen any of this materialize on the ground,” he said. “The Israeli killing and aggression continue to claim the lives of men, women, and children in Gaza. Nearly a year has passed since the adoption of Resolution 2803, and the establishment of the Board of Peace, and only one year remains of the designated transitional period before the end of 2027.”
“Therefore, we call for accelerating the implementation of the second phase, rather than wasting any more time,” Abbas added. “The transitional period must not be allowed to become a permanent or open-ended situation without any clear, time-bound, political horizon.”
The transitional period must ultimately lead to the reunification of the Gaza Strip with the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under the authority of the Palestinian Authority, “and its legitimate institutions, in accordance with the principle of one state, one government,” he argued.
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The Gaza peace deal has largely held, if uneasily, and Hamas and the Israeli military have repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement. The war with Iran shifted world attention elsewhere, but the situation remains fragile.
The Israeli elections, scheduled to be held next month, have further complicated matters, as fully acquiescing to the terms of the deal could prove politically unpopular for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.