Delegates, including from Maldives, protest Netanyahu’s UN speech with mass walkout

Dozens of delegates in the United Nations General Assembly, including those from the Maldives, walked out in protest on Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to deliver an address.

Friday marks the fourth day of speeches at the 80th UNGA underway at the UN headquarters in New York, during which many world leaders condemned Israel’s genocide in Gaza, while a further 10 countries recognized Palestinian statehood.

As Netanyahu, who has an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes, took to the podium at the UNGA, delegates from multiple countries, stood up from their seats and exited the chamber.

This included Maldivian Foreign Minister Dr. Abdulla Khaleel, Environment Minister Ahmed Thoriq and other members of the Maldivian delegation.

“The Maldives will always stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine,” wrote Khaleel in a post on X, sharing a video of the mass walkout.

The Maldivian delegation walked out of the General Assembly Hall in protest, when the Prime Minister of Israel started his address to the General Debate.

The Maldives will always stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. #MDVatUNGA80 pic.twitter.com/uHkIL72R8U

— Abdulla Khaleel (@abkhaleel) September 26, 2025

Netanyahu’s address comes a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed world leaders gathered for the UNGA via video link after being refused a visa by the United States to travel to New York.

In his speech, Abbas decried Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon, calling out “the extremist Israeli government” for its continued settlement projects that make a future Palestinian state virtually impossible.

Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has killed over 65,000 people and wounded over 167,000 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble of homes and office buildings devastated by Israeli air strikes.

“It is a war crime and a crime against humanity that is both documented and monitored, and it will be recorded in history books and the pages of international conscience as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries,” said Abbas in his UNGA address.

Last week, a UN inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza is a genocide, a landmark moment after nearly two years of conflict that critics have called a war of vengeance without any specific goals.