Defiant Netanyahu says Israel ‘must finish the job’ against Hamas in Gaza

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders at the United Nations that his country “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza, giving a defiant speech despite growing international isolation over his refusal to end the devastating war in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu was speaking after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the UN General Assembly hall en masse on Friday.

“Western leaders may have buckled under the pressure,” he said. “And I guarantee you one thing: Israel won’t.”

Responding to countries’ recent decisions to recognise Palestinian statehood, Mr Netanyahu said: “Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere.”

As the Israeli leader spoke, unintelligible shouts echoed around the hall. The US delegation, which has backed Mr Netanyahu in his campaign against Hamas, stayed put.

The few world powers in attendance, the US and the UK, did not send their most senior officials or even their UN ambassador to their section. Instead, it was filled out with more junior, low-level diplomats.

“Antisemitism dies hard. In fact, it doesn’t die at all,” Mr Netanyahu said. The Israeli prime minister routinely accuses his critics of antisemitism.

Mr Netanyahu faces international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate. Friday’s speech was his chance to push back on the international community’s biggest platform.

As he has often in the past, Mr Netanyahu held up a visual aid — a map of the region titled “The Curse”.

He ascended the podium wearing a special hostages pin with a QR code that leads to a site about October 7 that was established specifically for international public diplomacy needs.

The members of the prime minister’s delegation, ministers and those accompanying him were also wearing identical pins.

He frequently praised US president Donald Trump, his chief ally in his political and military approach in the region.

Mr Netanyahu said the changes across the Middle East had created new opportunities. He said Israel had begun negotiations with Syria aimed at reaching security arrangements with the country’s new government.

Back in the Middle East, the Israeli government was taking steps to ensure that Gazans and others heard what he had to say.

The military set up loudspeakers at the Israel-Gaza border to blast his words into the territory.

And in an “unprecedented operation”, the prime minister’s office said the Israeli army would take over the mobile phones of Gaza residents and Hamas operatives and his speech would be broadcast live through the mobile devices.

It was not immediately clear if this happened, or to what extent.

Mr Netanyahu said the special measures were taken in an attempt to reach the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza.

He spoke in Hebrew at one point, and he read the names of the 20 who are believed to still be alive.

But much of his speech was also aimed at an international audience that is increasingly critical of Israel.

The leader’s annual speech to the General Assembly is always closely watched, often protested against, reliably emphatic and sometimes a venue for dramatic allegations. But this time, the stakes are higher than ever for the Israeli leader.

In recent days, Australia, Canada, France, the UK and others announced their recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

The European Union is considering tariffs and sanctions on Israel. The assembly this month passed a nonbinding resolution urging Israel to commit to an independent Palestinian nation, which Mr Netanyahu has said is a non-starter.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant accusing Mr Netanyahu of crimes against humanity, which he denies.

And the UN’s highest court is weighing South Africa’s allegation that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, which it vehemently refutes.

As Mr Netanyahu spoke on Friday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered a few blocks from the heavily secured United Nations.

“Israel has chosen a war against every conscientious human being in this world,” Nidaa Lafi, an organiser with Palestinian Youth Movement, said.

“The masses have come to the irreversible realisation that this war was always about the complete ethnic cleansing of Palestine, about the exploitation and the stealing of Palestinian land.”

At a special session of the UN Security Council assembly this week, nation after nation expressed horror at the 2023 attack by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people in Israel, saw 251 taken hostage and triggered the war. Many of the representatives went on to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and influx of aid.

Israel’s sweeping offensive has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza and displaced 90% of its population, with an increasing number now starving.

While more than 150 countries now recognise a Palestinian state, the US has not, providing Israel with vociferous support.

But Mr Trump pointedly signalled on Thursday that there were limits, telling reporters in Washington that he would not let Israel annex the occupied West Bank.

Israel has not announced such a move, but several leading members in Mr Netanyahu’s government have advocated doing so.

And officials recently approved a controversial settlement project that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, a move that critics say could doom chances for a Palestinian state.

Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu are scheduled to meet during his visit.

Meanwhile, speaking on the White House lawn as he was leaving to attend the Ryder Cup, Mr Trump said he believed the US had achieved a deal on easing fighting in Gaza that “will get the hostages back” and “end the war”.

“I think we have a deal,” Mr Trump told reporters.

Although his tone was optimistic, the US president has repeatedly suggested that an agreement to calm Israel’s war with Hamas was imminent — only to have nothing to show for it.