UNGA Day 4: Lebanese on deck after defiant Netanyahu speech
We are resuming our coverage of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, September 25.
The general debate is scheduled to begin its fourth day of the assembly at 9 a.m. New York time (1300 UTC).
Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon and others are to speak in today's morning session, while countries such as Egypt, Mexico, Kazakhstan and Sweden will take the stand in the afternoon.
Friday's debate comes after a day of speeches that was centered on Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address sparking a walkout by several delegates.
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Skip next section That's a wrap on Day 3 of UNGASeptember 25, 2026
That's a wrap on Day 3 of UNGA
Rana Taha
We're wrapping up for the day, with the third day's sessions of the 81st General Assembly now complete.
Gaza dominated the speeches today.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the assembly, denying that his country's actions in Gaza amount to genocide, an accusation leveled by several speakers on Thursday, including Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Several delegates exited the hall as the Israeli prime minister began his speech.
Protesters had also gathered outside the UN Headquarters in New York ahead of Netanyahu's address, with some being arrested.
Before the session wrapped up, the representatives of Iran, Turkey and Qatar used their right of reply to lambast Netanyahu's address.
Join us on Friday, when Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Egypt, Mexico, Haiti, Norway, Sweden and others are due to address the assembly.
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Skip next section Nepal's leader says his country is paying the price of climate changeSeptember 25, 2026
Nepal's leader says his country is paying the price of climate change
Four weeks after catastrophic flash floods ravaged Nepal, the small Himalayan country's young prime minister stood at the podium of the UN General Assembly to warn leaders about the impact of a warming world.
"I wish I could stand here today simply to speak about development, democracy, peace and the hopes of a young nation. Instead, I must speak about death and destruction of epic proportions," said Balendra Shah as he began his address to the UNGA on Thursday.
Nepal's leader calls for international cooperation for protecting the Himalayas
The Nepalese leader stressed that the perils of climate change transcend national borders as he made a case for greater international cooperation for protecting the Himalayas.
"The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet. They are part of the planet's life-support system," Shah said, proposing the establishment of a "Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism," which he said would be led by Nepal, India and China.
Shah elaborated that the mechanism would help countries share satellite data and expertise, as well as monitor glacial lakes that pose a threat. He also called for stronger joint early-warning systems and coordinated, cross-border assistance in the event of a disaster.
"Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international cooperation, rather than a frontier of fragmented information," the prime minister said.
Nepal's leader says his country is paying the price of climate change
Shah noted that his country only contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"We did not create this crisis. Yet we are paying a colossal price for it," he said, adding that he wasn not blaming any nation or continent.
"We are not here to turn climate change into another geopolitical battlefield. We are here to ask everyone to recommit to shared responsibility and solidarity," Shah said.
Nepal seeks grants, not loans, for flood recovery
The Nepalese prime minister emphasized the principles of "Responsibility, Reparation and Resilience" as he called for grant-based support rather than loans.
Shah said that vulnerable nations should not be forced to take on additional debt to recover from climate catastrophes.
"When a climate-driven disaster destroys the infrastructure of a poor country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or a patchwork of small grants. We need adequate grant-based support from the world," he said.
36-year-old Shah was theyoungest head of government to speak at the 81st session of the UNGA.
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Skip next section 'Hands off ICC,' Dutch PM says amid growing US pressureSeptember 25, 2026
'Hands off ICC,' Dutch PM says amid growing US pressure
Rana Taha
Netherlands Prime Minister Rob Jetten, addressing the General Assembly on Thursday, said the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, was "under attack."
Jetten did not name the US or President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday urged countries to leave the court, the latest move in his administration's campaign against the ICC.
"How can you possibly be opposed to prosecuting the very worst crimes?" Jetten asked the assembly, drawing loud applause from the delegates.
"I believe there can be only one response. To say: hands off the ICC, and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order. Because the reality is that we still need to fight impunity."
Washington has imposed financial sanctions and visa bans on ICC staff, with officials reportedly preparing additional sanctions that could curtail the court's ability to operate.
US takes aim at the International Criminal Court
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Skip next section Yemen, Kuwait stress freedom of navigation at UNGASeptember 25, 2026
Yemen, Kuwait stress freedom of navigation at UNGA
Rana Taha
Yemen and Kuwait, both heavily impacted by the Iran war and its regional spillover, have used their General Assembly addresses to stress the importance of the freedom and safety of navigation, while condemning Iran and its proxies in the region.
Abdullah Abdulkader Al Alimi-Bawzer, vice resident of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, represents the internationally recognized government, which has been at war with the Iran-backed Houthirebels for more than a decade.
Alimi-Bawzer devoted his address to highlighting recent Houthi actions and their impact on global trade.
The Houthis' conflict with Saudi Arabia, which has led a coalition against them, has recently escalated, with the Yemeni rebels declaring a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial global shipping route. This has further squeezed the Saudi kingdom as Iran continues to block access through the Strait of Hormuz.
"Ensuring security at sea begins with eliminating the source of the threat on land," Alimi-Bawzer said, in an apparent reference to the Houthis.
Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah stressed that freedom and safety of navigation, as well as the right of passage through the Straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, must be guaranteed.
"To inflict harm on the economies of the region and the world, and to disrupt global trade and oil markets, Iran is obstructing maritime navigation and closing the Strait of Hormuz, using it as a bargaining chip in the war, in violation of international law and relevant Security Council resolutions," he said.
Kuwait has been among the countries targeted by Iranian strikes since the start of the war, in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.
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Skip next section Nigeria says don't 'surrender our technological future to paranoia'September 24, 2026
Nigeria says don't 'surrender our technological future to paranoia'
Nigeria's Vice President Kashim Shettima addressed the assembly on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.
Among a range of issues, he weighed in on the question of AI with an appeal for an optimistic and proactive approach more than what he deemed undue caution.
"We refuse to surrender our technological future to paranoia," he said. "An invention can be destructive or beneficial, depending on the purpose it serves and the judgment of those who use it. A knife can take a life in the hands of an assailant, and can save one in the hands of a surgeon."
He said that while AI could be used to wage war, it could also "transform" an array of areas like healthcare, education and agriculture.
"Much of the anxiety surrounding AI reflects the distrust we have allowed to grow amongst us," Shettima said.
He said Nigeria wished to invite the world "to work with our inventive, resourceful and enterprising young people to direct AI towards humanity's advancement rather than its destruction."
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Skip next section Fiji calls for cheaper financial transfers for remittances, saying 'they are not aid'September 24, 2026
Fiji calls for cheaper financial transfers for remittances, saying 'they are not aid'
Fijian President Ratu Naiqama Tawakecolati Lalabalavu addressed the chamber on behalf of one of the low-lying island nations at severe risk from climate change on Thursday.
He said that many of the UN's sustainable development goals remained off track with 2030 approaching and said that aid and financial assistance often did a poor job of reaching remote islands exposed to more natural disasters than average. But then he called for a wider financial system that would better enable Fijians to help themselves.
"There is one measure of delivery that reaches Fijian households directly," he said. "Remittances are now Fiji's third-largest source of foreign exchange."
Lalabalavu said these funds paid for school fees, rebuilt homes after cyclones and sustained families between harvests.
"Your excellencies, they are not aid. They are earnings of Fijians abroad, sent home. Yet Pacific corridors remain among the most expensive in the world through which to send money."
He noted how the chamber had in May committed to work to keep such transfer costs below 3% and to eliminate corridors costing more than 5% — he said that Pacific countries like Fiji wanted this to be "treated as an obligation and not an aspiration."
"Labor mobility must also not become a one-way transfer of the people that we have trained," the president said. "Fiji does not begrudge any Fijian the chance to build a life abroad. We ask only that those recruit our nurses, our teachers invest in the systems that recruited them."
Lalabalavu also alluded to Fiji recently declaring a national HIV emergency and said that organized crime and drug trafficking was exacerbating this problem. He said that as a small impoverished country, Fiji had three requests for the international community:
"That treatment and diagnostics reach small states at prices we can pay. That the Global Fund and UNAIDS be resources at a level that does not force triage between regions, and that our partners treat Pacific narcotics interdiction as the shared security interest it is."
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Skip next section Netanyahu calls genocide allegations 'the greatest lie of the century'September 24, 2026
Netanyahu calls genocide allegations 'the greatest lie of the century'
The Israeli prime minister said allegations of genocide in Gaza leveled at Israel by various world leaders or groups were false.
"It will take time for the world to acknowledge what is so plain to see. That Hamas used Palestinian civilians as human shields. That it used hospitals, schools, mosques as terrorist command posts. That it sold much of the food we let into Gaza," Netanyahu alleged.
"And while Hamas did everything possible to keep Palestinians in harm's way — often at gunpoint — Israel did everything possible to get them out of harm's way," he said, listing measures like warnings to civilians.
"I want to ask you a question: what genocidal regime gives a million polio vaccinations to the enemy's population? What genocidal regime enables the distribution of 2 million tons of food into Gaza? Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century," he said.
He also called out New York's "antisemitic" mayor, Zohran Mamdani, as one of the people spreading this message. He said that since Mamdani's election "many Jews no longer feel safe in New York."
Netanyahu said the "simple truth" was not that Israel committed genocide but that it prevented one, saying "that's exactly what Mr. Mamdani's Hamas buddies would have done to us if we had not stopped them."
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Skip next section Netanyahu says he 'drew a red line' on same podium 14 years agoSeptember 24, 2026
Netanyahu says he 'drew a red line' on same podium 14 years ago
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his speech with a reference to his notorious General Assembly appearance in 2012, when he stood with illustrated graphics depicting how near to creating a nuclear bomb he thought Iran was.
"Ladies and gentlemen, 14 years ago I stood on this podium and I drew a red line," he said. "I vowed to prevent Iran's murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs. Nuclear weapons that could destroy the state of Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the whole world. That's exactly what we did."
Netanyahu said that while it was "very hard" to devastate Iran's nuclear facilities, he said it was "one of the easiest decisions" he'd had to make as prime minister, "because if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead."
Iran contends that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes like electricity generation, a claim that Israel and the US dispute.
Netanyahu also referred to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa's call for Israel to pull back its forces in the Golan Heights border area, addressing al-Sharaa and saying "you should know that the Jews have been in the Golan Heights since the days of Moses," referring to the Old Testament prophet thought to have lived more than 3,000 years ago.
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Skip next section Delegates leave the chamber in large group as Netanyahu entersSeptember 24, 2026
Delegates leave the chamber in large group as Netanyahu enters
As Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's turn to speak at the UN General Assembly came, a large number of delegates from various countries stood up and left the chamber to cheers and jeering.
Only after repeated appeals for calm was it possible for him to begin his address.
"Before I begin, just a quick announcement: if there any other moral cowards who have not yet left this hall, please do so now. Thank you very much," Netanyahu said.
He returned to the issue of the walkout later when discussing his decision to target Iran and its nuclear capabilities.
"Now do you want to hear the ultimate irony? In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall. In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran's nukes," he claimed, saying "it's hard to imagine more mind-blowing hypocrisy."
Protesters had also gathered outside the building in New York ahead of Netanyahu's address. Some were arrested by police. A Democratic nominee for New York's 10th congressional district in November's midterm elections, Brad Lander, also joined the demonstrators, albeit wearing a suit and tie rather than a slogan-laden T-shirt.
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Skip next section READ: Nigeria and US sign mining dealSeptember 24, 2026
READ: Nigeria and US sign mining deal
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Nigeria and the United States agreed to increase American investiment in the West African nation's mining sector.
Nigeria's Minister for Solid Minerals Dele Alake announced the deal on Thursday, a day after he signed the framework deal with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
"Nigeria cannot remain a source of raw materials while others capture most of the value. We want more local processing, quality jobs, stronger skills and greater opportunities for Nigerian businesses," Alake said.
Read more about the US-Nigeria mining agreement.
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Skip next section Abbas calls for saving two-state solution and Palestinian self-determinationSeptember 24, 2026
Abbas calls for saving two-state solution and Palestinian self-determination
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas used his remarks to implore nations to support the two-state solution, saying his people seek a non-militarized, democratic Palestinian state that can exist alongside Israel in peace.
He said the first step to preserving the idea of such a solution is to protect the lands upon which a future Palestinian state would be based, as well as protecting those people who have lived upon them for generations.
Abbas underscored the fact that the Palestinian people would not be displaced by "military occupation, nor settlement expansion, annexation, nor settler terrorism."
He further said that "no lasting security can be built upon the occupation of another people and the denial of its legitimate rights," adding that the Palestinians have their own plans for an independent state and emphasizing the need to end the Israeli occupation in order to negotiate a solution.
This plan, Abbas said, is based on protecting Palestinians from displacement, preserving their lands, democratically renewing political institutions and building a new sovereign Palestinian state — with east Jerusalem as its capital.
All of this, he said, would be carried out with a "commitment to international law" and the right to exercise self-determination with the aim of achieving security and peace with Israel to, "pave the way to regional integration, cooperation, prosperity and security for everyone."
Abbas concluded his remarks by thanking those 160 nations whom he said have recognized Palestinian statehood, calling for its inclusion in the United Nations.
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Skip next section Palestinian leader Abbas blasts US and Israel in General AssemblySeptember 24, 2026
Palestinian leader Abbas blasts US and Israel in General Assembly
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, addressing those gathered at the UNGA via video because the US State Department refused to allow the Palestinian delegation into the country, has rejected Washington's approach as "unlawful and punitive."
Abbas described the denial of visas as a US failure to live up to its responsibility as the host nation of the international body.
Abbas quickly pivoted to blast Israel's "genocidal war" in Gaza, as well as the sanctioned "ethnic cleansing" perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Saying that Israeli violations of international law put the two-state solution at grave risk, Abbas described the situation in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem as part of a "malicious colonial scheme" and warned of a "new Nakba."
He also referenced attacks on Muslim and Christian religious sites by radical Jews as having the potential to transform the current security situation into a wider religiously fueled conflict.
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Skip next section Not only Middle East, rising sea level threat also on slate for day 3 meetingsSeptember 24, 2026
Not only Middle East, rising sea level threat also on slate for day 3 meetings
Beyond AI and the headline-grabbing conflict in the Middle East, the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday will discuss another pressing issue that impacts the world’s citizens — rising sea levels.
A high-level meeting is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Thursday as swelling seas redraw coastlines and pose existential risks for islanders and those who live in low-lying areas near the shores of the world's oceans and seas.
The UN says nearly 900 million people live in such areas, adding that another one million could be impacted by mid-century.
Rising sea levels, says the UN, threaten not only land but also livelihoods and even the existence of entire nations. In the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, "Rising seas are sinking futures."
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Skip next section Israeli and Palestinian leaders set to address UNGA on day 3September 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."
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