Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delivered his speech at the UN General Assembly, where he responded to a wave of recognition for a Palestinian state, that reached a peak this week at a two-state conference led by France and Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu's visit to the US takes place against the backdrop of what Israeli officials describe as "intensive talks" on an agreement to end the war. The prime minister is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday.
During the speech, Netanyahu addressed the hostages in Hebrew: "I want to do something I have not done before. I want to speak directly to the hostages by loudspeaker. I surrounded Gaza with microphones connected to these loudspeakers. I will say this first in Hebrew and then in English:
"This is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking. I address you from the UN podium. We have not forgotten you, not for a second. The whole nation is with you and we will not be still and we will not relent until we bring you all home, the living and the fallen alike!"
"Thanks to the efforts of Israeli intelligence, these words are being broadcast live via cell phones in Gaza. To the remaining leaders and fighters of the Hamas terrorist organization and to the captors of the hostages he says: lay down your weapons. Release my people, release the hostages, now!"
"If so, you will live. If not, Israel will hunt you. If Hamas accepts our demands the war will end now. Gaza will be disarmed, we will maintain security control and there will be civilian life in Gaza."
Netanyahu on countries recognizing a Palestinian state: "Many leaders have surrendered. For most of the past two years we have had to fight on seven fronts while many countries oppose those fronts. While you fight the terrorists who murdered your civilians, you are fighting us, you are using legal warfare against us.
"I say to the representatives of those countries, this is not a verdict on Israel, but on you, on weak leaders who appease the barbarians at the gates. When will you learn, you cannot appease jihad. You should stand with Israel, but that is not what you are doing."
Earlier, Netanyahu said: "Much of the world no longer remembers October 7. But we remember, Israel remembers October 7. On my lapel there is a QR code. What I ask you to do is zoom in, and you will also see what we are fighting for and why we must prevail."
Netanyahu: "Thanks to the bravery of our people and the courageous decisions we have taken, we rose from our darkest day and produced one of the greatest military comebacks in history. But we are not finished. The remnants of Hamas are entrenched in Gaza city. We vow to relive October 7 again and again, no matter how weak their forces are. Therefore Israel must finish the job, and we want to do it as quickly as possible."
Netanyahu concluded his speech by saying: "A Hamas victory will enable peace with Muslim and Arab nations and allow for a massive expansion of the Abraham Accords, forged five years ago. Encouraging words came from the president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country. Arab states could benefit from Israeli technologies in many fields.
"In the coming years, the Middle East will look dramatically different. Many of the states that launched war against Israel today will disappear tomorrow, replaced by courageous peacemakers. No place is more central to this context than Iran. They will make Iran good again. Our people will rebuild and will benefit the entire world."
