UN General Assembly: Topical World Issues Focus Attention

T he 80th United Nations General Assembly that began on September 9, 2025 will enter a high gear today (23rd September), with the first day of a high-level general debate, under the theme, “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights”. Saudi Arabia and France will co-chair meetings at the UN General Assembly summit with top on the agenda, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which aims to see both sides existing in peace. The New York rendezvous that is gathering more than 150 world leaders, will be without Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President who the United States government denied a visa to attend, along with his officials. Though the General Assembly on Saturday voted to allow Mahmoud Abbas to address the event by video link while he is represented in the chamber by the Palestinian ambassador, at least 10 more countries have formally recognized the Palestinian State, after the overwhelming adoption by the General Assembly of a text supporting a future Palestinian state, albeit without Hamas. Over the weekend, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Portugal, Malta, the UK and San Marino alongside France announced their recognition of the Palestinian State, joining the 147 of 193 UN states that already recognized Palestine. The Palestinian Authority has, in turn, offered commitments such as governance reforms, demilitarization and general elections. The US is against the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state, even as polling suggests a majority of Americans support it. The Trump administration argues Hamas is being “rewarded”. But French President, E...