LEBANON – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged Israel will fight until “total victory” in its continuing war on Gaza and promised to continue attacks on the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, as hopes faded for a ceasefire that could head off an all-out regional war.

Several delegations walked out as Netanyahu approached the lectern to speak while supporters in the gallery cheered. “I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war fighting for its life,” Netanyahu said on Friday.

“But after I heard the lies and slanders levelled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight.” Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 96,000 others since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

More than half of those killed were women and children, including about 1,300 children under the age of two. Israel launched the assault on Gaza in response to a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli figures, with about 250 others seized as captives.

Israeli leader told the 193-member assembly that the Palestinian group Hamas, which governs Gaza, should have no role in the reconstruction of the territory. “If Hamas stays in power, it will regroup … and attack Israel again and again and again … So Hamas has got to go,” he told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

The United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, has been trying unsuccessfully to reach a ceasefire that would end the war and secure the release of the captives. “This war can come to an end now. All that has to happen is for Hamas to surrender, lay down its arms and release all the hostages,” Netanyahu said. (Al Jazeera) …[+]