UNGA: Netanyahu, Abbas to speak as Middle East dominates day
September 24, 2026
Israeli and Palestinian leaders set to address UNGA on day 3
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are both expected to address members of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday, with the issue of the Middle East writ large on the day 3 agenda.
Netanyahu, who is increasingly unpopular at home and abroad, will not meet with US officials or Arab leaders during his stay. His office cited a "tight schedule" as the reason, listing as many as nine meetings during his visit, including with the presidents of Argentina and Bolivia, the vice president of Colombia and the prime minister of Papua New Guinea.
The increasingly isolated Israeli leader's Palestinian counterpart, President Mahmoud Abbas, will also address the General Assembly. Abbas, however, will do so via video, as the US State Department refused to issue him an entry visa.
The broader subjects of Gaza's future and Palestinian statehood will also be topics of discussion. The UK will convene a meeting on Gaza's current and future status, and Saudi Arabia and Norway will host a ministerial meeting to hash out plans for the implementation of the so-called "two-state solution."
https://p.dw.com/p/5NCcH
Skip next section That's a wrap on Day 2 of the UNGAPublished September 24, 2026last updated September 24, 2026
That's a wrap on Day 2 of the UNGA
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the ongoing war between the country, calling him "patient zero."
The Ukraine leader also announced new defense deals with Finland and Australia.
Elsewhere, Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa called for the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights to end, saying the territory belongs to Syria.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also addressed Israel, calling for what he described as the "genocide" in Gaza to stop.
This comes ahead of a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAvP
Skip next section 'Too much power in too few hands' — AI leaders warn about technology dangersSeptember 24, 2026
'Too much power in too few hands' — AI leaders warn about technology dangers
Besides world leaders, top bosses at AI companies also addressed the UN about dangers concerning artificial intelligence.
AI executives spoke to the UN Security Council and urged international cooperation on the hotly debated technology.
Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, highlighted two big risks with AI.
"First, we could lose control of the future to AI. The risk is that it moves so fast that people can no longer follow what's happening or intervene when needed," he said, adding that such a scenario would be "terrible."
Second, he said AI systems "could concentrate too much power in too few hands." "No one person or company or country should be able to use the most powerful AI models to impose their worldview on everyone else."
Anthropic boss Dario Amodei used the platform to call for a ban on the use of AI in the development of biological weapons, describing AI as the most crucial global security issue facing the world.
"If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole," he said.
Amodei also urged global standards for testing new AI models.
What is AI's biggest risk: Speed or autonomy?
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAw6
Skip next section Spain PM Pedro Sanchez calls for reforming the UN Security CouncilSeptember 24, 2026
Spain PM Pedro Sanchez calls for reforming the UN Security Council
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezcalled for reforming the UN Security Council so that "all of the regions in the world" would be fairly represented.
Sanchez quoted the UN Charter, saying "no country should be a judge in its own case, no matter how powerful they are."
The Spanish leader continued to condemn the "genocide that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is still perpetrating in Gaza," while pointing to Madrid's sanctions against Russia as an example of his government's willingness to take action against countries whose conduct violates the UN Charter.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAuv
Skip next section Ebola outbreak 'major' test for country, Congo's PM tells UNGASeptember 24, 2026
Ebola outbreak 'major' test for country, Congo's PM tells UNGA
Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka described the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a "major test" for the country.
"For the DRC, fighting this epidemic is an absolute priority. After having contained 16 previous outbreaks, the DRC is mobilizing recognized scientific and operational expertise. And thanks to national mobilization and the support of our
partners, the response has recently begun producing tangible results," she told the UN General Assembly.
As of 22 September 2026, Congo reported a total of 7, 773 confirmed cases, including 3,759 related deaths. A total of 839 patients are hospitalized in isolation.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAut
Skip next section Venezuela to hold elections, Rodriguez tells UNGASeptember 24, 2026
Venezuela to hold elections, Rodriguez tells UNGA
Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, delivered her first address to the UN General Assembly since coming to power, promising her country would hold elections when the nation's people determine the "right moment."
"I want to make this very clear at this General Assembly: there will be elections in Venezuela," Rodriguez said, adding that her country "has initiated the process of democratic transformation for its rebirth" following two blows this year.
First, "strangulation of its internal political life and the heightened confrontation with the United States" and second, the earthquakes on June 24 that caused the deaths of more than 6,500 people.
Rodriguez took power after the US toppled the then-president Nicolas Maduro in January.
Rodríguez briefly met US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly as well.
Anger in Venezuela over earthquake response
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAt6
Skip next section Ukrainian foreign minister met with Iranian delegation on the sidelines of UNGASeptember 24, 2026
Ukrainian foreign minister met with Iranian delegation on the sidelines of UNGA
DW's US Correspondent Misha Komadovsky reported that the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with the Iranian delegation on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Sybiah earlier in the day told a UN Security Council meeting that Ukraine was ready for an immediate and complete ceasefire without preconditions, if Moscow did too.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAoQ
Skip next section German FM calls on Iran to end Hormuz blockageSeptember 23, 2026
German FM calls on Iran to end Hormuz blockage
Rana Taha
In a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called on Iran to end its closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
"It is up to Iran to engage constructively in negotiations and to loosen its stranglehold," Wadephul told journalists ahead of the meeting.
Wadephul also urged Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to engage seriously and credibly in sustainable negotiations with the US and neighboring states in the region, sources in the German delegation were cited by the DPA news agency as saying.
"There must now be an overall willingness to compromise in order to bring about a solution to the deadlocked conflict in the region," Wadephul was quoted as saying.
He stressed the readiness of Germany and the so-called E3, which also includes France and the United Kingdom, to support mediation efforts.
Wadephul also stressed in the talks the need for Iran and militias it supports in the region, namely Yemen's Houthi rebels, to halt attacks on civilian ships. He added that Berlin expects free transit through the Strait of Hormuz to be restored immediately, stressing the rejection of any fees for passage through the critical waterway.
"Not only the Gulf States, but large parts of Asia, Africa and also Europe are suffering under this blockade," Wadephul said.
He added that Germany welcomes renewed talks between the US and Iran on the sidelines of the General Assembly, adding that he planned to speak to his counterparts from Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq and Oman.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAZQ
Skip next section Zelenskyy announces defense deals with Finland, AustraliaSeptember 23, 2026
Zelenskyy announces defense deals with Finland, Australia
Rana Taha
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced fresh deals with Finland and Australia related to defense, adding that another deal with Canada will follow.
Kyiv's defense experience against Russian drone strikes has now made it a world leader in the field.
"We are already working with partners in the Gulf, the South Caucasus, and across Europe through drone deals. Today, I signed a drone deal, a serious drone deal, with Finland," he said.
"Also today, I signed [a] security agreement with Australia, and drones are part of it too."
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAZN
Skip next section Zelenskyy calls Putin 'patient zero,' from whom 'this idea of war keeps spreading further'September 23, 2026
Zelenskyy calls Putin 'patient zero,' from whom 'this idea of war keeps spreading further'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also addressed the ways the war in Ukraine had spread, not least North Korea sending troops to fight on Russia's behalf.
"Recently we sent two North Korean prisoners of war the the Republic of Korea," Zelenskyy said, referring to South Korea by its formal name. "And these guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realized he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself."
He said this spoke to how personnel in North Korea were trained and an attitude that "they must die, no matter what."
"Do you really want to give such a force more time to learn how to wage war?" he asked.
Zelenskyy said that North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un provided troops to Russia in a transactional way. He said he presumed North Korea's neighbors must have noticed what he said was the country's recently-improved missile capabilities.
Zelenskyy alleged that Putin never seemed satisfied in his territorial ambitions and argued that this pattern applied beyond Ukraine.
He said that many around the world, in the south Caucasus, in Syria and across Africa "also know very well what Russian killers are."
"After all of this, can you even imagine [Putin] without war?" Zelenskyy asked. "He is patient zero, the one from whom this idea of war keeps spreading further. And wherever it spreads, it brings only pain, instability, new risks and of course new crises."
The more space Putin has to operate, he argued, the more dangerous the world became for everyone else.
"That is why patient zero must be stopped. He must be denied the space to act and the space to spread this evil further," Zelenskyy said.
North Korea expands role in Russia's war with Ukraine
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAYG
Skip next section Ukraine's Zelenskyy opens speech with critique of Putin, overture to TrumpSeptember 23, 2026
Ukraine's Zelenskyy opens speech with critique of Putin, overture to Trump
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened his speech not just with a message targeting Russia after more than four and a half years of open war, but also aimed squarely at the sensibilities of his host in New York.
"This morning on my way to New York, somewhere in the sky over the big and beautiful Atlantic Ocean, I read President Trump's post on Truth Social," Zelenskyy began.
He relayed how Trump had written that Russia lost control of its diesel oil industry due to its war with Ukraine, an embarrassment for a UN Security Council member so proud of its oil industry.
"And this is true, Russia messed up," Zelenskyy said. "And the conclusion of the post is also right: this ridiculous and never-ending war with Ukraine must be ended. I do not know a single world leader who would say otherwise. I do not know anyone who is openly for this war: except one man."
He said that Russia had been trying to carry out what he called Putin's "crazy orders" to seize eastern Ukraine for more than four years.
"Just this year, from January through August" the Russian army "lost" 248,964 people on the battlefield in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. He later clarified that this constituted military casualties — so soldiers "killed and badly wounded" and said "we have video confirmation for every one of these losses."
He said that amid these losses, Russia had only managed to capture "around 1,000 square kilometers (380 square miles) of our land this year," adding that "we have already liberated a significant part of it." He compared this to Russia's own vast territory spanning some 17 million square kilometers.
He said of the continued fighting: "It's madness, but they still keep going there to die, because that is what Putin wants."
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAWh
Skip next section Palau says UN exclusion of Taiwan 'marginalizes' 23 million peopleSeptember 23, 2026
Palau says UN exclusion of Taiwan 'marginalizes' 23 million people
Palau's President Surangel Whipps began his address with thanks to outgoing UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is nearing his term limit.
"Your climate leadership, steadfast defense of multilateralism, international law, human dignity and the voices of the vulnerable carries a special meaning for small island developing states," said Whipps, who leads an archipelago of more than 500 islands but only around 17,600 people, which only completed its independence process in 1994.
However, he also issued a stern criticism of the UN later in his address, arguing that there was one small island state whose sovereign rights the UN did not honor.
As one of just a dozen countries to have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, partly as a result of its historic and current ties to the US, Whipps also made the case for its inclusion in the UN.
"In Palau we say we are a friend to all," he said. "We choose our partners based on our shared values of democracy, human rights and a rules-based international order: principles that underpin our friendship with Taiwan."
He described Taiwan as "a trusted partner that can contribute even more fully if given the space to do so."
Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations and has been excluded from the organization since 1971 — when the Communist People's Republic of China took over the Chinese seat and the veto rights on the Security Council that came with it. This happened amid the normalization of ties between Beijing and much of the West, roughly two decades after the Chinese Communist Revolution.
"The UN marginalizes Taiwan's 23 million people," Whipps said. "We stand with likeminded partners in calling for the reversal of misinterpretations of the rules and procedures that have constrained Taiwan's meaningful participation in this body."
The leader of the island nation on the front lines of the battle against climate change and rising tides concluded with a traditional adage he said offered a lesson to the wider UN.
"Be strong, and do not give up. The shore is near," Whipps said, translating the saying. "The promise of multilateralism is that even the smallest can be heard, and that the many voices — shaped by different histories and experiences — can move toward a common shore."
Why Taiwan's last 12 allies support it in US-China rivalry
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAUF
Skip next section Venezuela's Rodriguez, Trump hold brief but 'important' talks on sidelinesSeptember 23, 2026
Venezuela's Rodriguez, Trump hold brief but 'important' talks on sidelines
Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez — in office since the US abducted her predecessor at the start of the year — and US President Donald Trump met in person for the first time on the sidelines of the assembly.
Rodriguez first announced the meeting on social media, calling it "historic" and saying they discussed "strengthening the bilateral relationship" and enhancing cooperation in "strategic areas such as energy, mining and security and other matters of common interest."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday described the meeting as brief but important.
One issue the pair discussed was the South American country's large debt load, Rubio said.
"There's a lot that needs to be fixed in order for Venezuela to be successful," Rubio told reporters. "Debt restructuring is key to that."
He described the country as having "probably the world's largest debt that has to be restructured," and said the US wanted to help to ensure this is done "in the right way."
Rodriguez also thanked Trump and his administration for their support following a pair of severe earthquakes at the end of June.
Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are both being held in a New York prison a short distance from the UN building. They are set to face trial on charges of alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NAOt
Skip next section Argentina's Milei lambasts UN as 'useless organization'September 23, 2026
Argentina's Milei lambasts UN as 'useless organization'
Argentina's President Javier Milei issued a fiery rebuke not just against the UK, amid renewed tensions with the UK over the Falkland Islands, but also against another pet peeve of his — the UN itself.
He said he wanted to highlight the shortcomings he perceived in the UN "in a constructive spirit," decades after it undertook to "uphold international law, defend the sovereignty of nations and provide a forum through which conflicts could be resolved through cooperation, rather than immediately through the force of arms."
That, he said, was the original contract member states signed, but this "sacred covenant" had in practice been broken.
"That's to say it's become a useless organization whose only purpose is to sustain a cast of fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats," Milei said.
He said they had failed in their task of ensuring collective global security and human rights: "Instead, they allowed chaos, violence and international terrorism to flourish."
Milei accused these "alleged defenders of human rights" of sheltering "bloodthirsty dictators and regimes that stone women in the streets" and of "systematically" voting against Israel "while remaining silent in the face of Islamic terrorism and the genocide of Christians in Africa."
From this point, he turned his gaze directly to the isolated Falkand Islands of some 2,000 residents, some 550 kilometers (350 miles) off Argentina's coastline. He referred to them using their Spanish name, the Malvinas.
"And, as if that were not enough, an organization established to defend the territorial sovereignty of its members decided to look the other way with regard to the situation of the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia Islands and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas," he said of the disputed British territory that Argentina's defunct military dictatorship invaded in the 1980s, just a matter of months before it collapsed.
"For us, the Malvinas are a national cause," he said, before repeating for emphasis. "They are also a test of the gulf that can exist between the words of international institutions and the reality upon which they purport to act."
He complained, for instance, about UK oil extraction operations in waters that Argentina claims, saying this violated a past UN resolution designed to prevent further tensions in the dispute. Milei said that "for far too long" Argentina had opted for a "rhetorical" and "peaceful" defense in this dispute, and said his country again called on the UK "to resume negotiations with a view to finding a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute, as required by international law."
https://p.dw.com/p/5N9xv
Skip next section Pezeshkian say Iran can't let others use Hormuz Strait to 'impose their aggression on us'September 23, 2026
Pezeshkian say Iran can't let others use Hormuz Strait to 'impose their aggression on us'
Iran's president also to defend his country's moves to restrict commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in his speech, in part by citing the US military's attempt to blockade Iran's ports.
"We cannot let some have free access and bolster their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggression upon us," Masoud Pezeshkian said.
He went on to mention efforts to close access to "our waterway" for Iran in his comments.
The speech did not make any solid proposal or suggestion for how to resolve the impasse in the key commercial shipping lane — where Iran is trying to restrict international shipping and the US Navy is trying to restrict access to Iranian ports in an uneasy and costly standoff.
Pezeshkian concluded by saying that Iran was not and never had been averse to negotiating, but at the same time said that President Donald Trump should have learned that it would not "bend the knee" when faced with "bullying" and military pressure.
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