At the UN podium, Erdoğan and fellow leaders put Gaza front and center

Leaders addressing the 81st UN General Assembly devoted much of their speeches to Gaza and the Palestinian question, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saying Gaza has the world’s highest rate of child amputees.

World leaders speaking at the 81st UN General Assembly focused heavily on Gaza, the Palestinian question and the two-state solution.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged that Türkiye would remain the voice of a free and sovereign State of Palestine and keep carrying the Palestinian people’s struggle to the world from the UN podium. He said Gaza is not only the world’s largest graveyard for children but also the place with the highest rate of child amputees in the world.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called what is happening in Gaza a genocide that will remain a stain on humanity, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Palestinians would carry for generations the pain and trauma of the genocide committed by the Netanyahu government against women and children in Gaza.

Infographic: leaders’ messages on Gaza and Palestine at the 81st UN General Assembly

Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned that Israeli government expansionism had become a regional threat and that no one should assume Israel’s ambitions would stop in Palestine. Denis Bećirović, chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidency, said the world had failed to respond adequately to the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

French President Emmanuel Macron said some believe peace has been achieved in Gaza, yet humanitarian aid is still not getting through, calling the situation shameful for all. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Israel’s approval of the illegal E1 settlement project in occupied East Jerusalem is a direct threat to peace.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Vietnamese President To Lam and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda voiced support for a two-state solution. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said so-called ceasefires amount to little more than small-scale truces in which civilians keep paying the price, and that enough is enough.

At the UN podium, Erdoğan and fellow leaders put Gaza front and center