Hamas urges world leaders to walk out during Netanyahu's UN speech

GAZA CITY, Palestine

To protest Israel’s “ongoing genocide” in Gaza in a high-profile way, during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Friday address to the UN General Assembly in New York, world lawmakers should stage a mass walkout from the chamber, a senior Hamas officials urged.

"Walking out is the least that can be done to express rejection and condemnation of the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement.

Rishq called Netanyahu "little Hitler," comparing him to the Nazi dictator and mass murderer, accusing the prime minister of orchestrating the mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and Lebanon.

"Netanyahu has killed more than 41,000 civilians (since last October), including 17,000 children and around 200 infants," he said, adding that Israeli airstrikes had targeted hospitals, mosques, churches, and camps for displaced people.

He added that Netanyahu is continuing the assault with "utter disregard" for a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and ignoring orders from the International Court of Justice.

"This man should be arrested and held accountable for his crimes," Rishq said, urging world leaders to boycott the speech and not give Netanyahu a platform.

Netanyahu is expected on Friday to deliver his address at the UN in New York amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Israel’s massive bombing campaign on neighboring Lebanon.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.

More than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 96,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi