Hamas says walkouts before Netanyahu UN speech show Israel 'isolation'

Hamas said a mass walkout of delegations before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations on Friday showed Israel's "isolation" as a result of the Gaza war.

"Boycotting Netanyahu's speech is one manifestation of Israel's isolation and the consequences of the war of extermination," Taher al-Nunu, the media adviser to the head of Hamas's political bureau, said in a statement.

As Netanyahu walked up to the General Assembly rostrum, a number of delegations walked out -- in a deliberate protest as the Israeli premier was the day's first speaker.

But the room was filled with applause from the public gallery as Netanyahu had again invited supporters to watch.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's political bureau, said the Israeli prime minister had been left with "nothing but a chorus of cheerleaders who entered the UN hall only to clap in support of genocide".

In a statement, Hamas accused Netanyahu of repeating "lies and blatant denial of the genocide, forced displacement and systematic starvation committed by him" and the Israeli military in Gaza.

"If he truly cared for his captives, he would end the brutal bombing, massacres and destruction of Gaza, but instead, he lies and continues to endanger their lives," the group said, referring to the hostages held by Palestinian militants.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 2023 attack that sparked the war, Palestinian militants still hold 47 in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

During his angry UN address, Netanyahu denied accusations of "genocide" in Gaza and using "starvation" as a tactic.

He also vowed to block a Palestinian state, accusing European leaders who recently recognised one of pushing his country into "national suicide" and rewarding Hamas.

Hamas said that the boycott of Netanyahu's speech showed the "growing global solidarity with the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state".

The group's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 65,549 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.