The increasingly isolated prime minister continued with his speech and called the UN a “swamp of antisemitic bile.”
It is not immediately clear which delegates from which countries remained to listen to Netanyahu’s speech, but he spoke to a largely empty assembly hall. Meanwhile, his supporters in the visitors’ gallery cheered his arrival.
“Ladies and Gentlemen Order! Order please,” UN General Assembly President Philémon Yang pleaded while slamming his gavel several times.
As Netanyahu gave his speech, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continued air assaults on Lebanon, hitting residential apartment buildings in Beirut it claims were strongholds for fighters belonging to the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah.
Countries around the globe have called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza and Israel has been accused of genocide by South Africa and nearly a dozen other countries in front of the International Court of Justice.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading daily strikes since October 8 when Hezbollah started striking Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. More than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel since October 7 according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.