Scores of delegates have stormed out of the UN General Assembly as Benjamin Netanyahu began his speech defending Israel‘s war in Gaza.
Several hundred diplomats from around the world are staging the walkout from the assembly hall in New York, while Netanyahu’s supporters try to take attention away from the spectacle by loudly applauding and standing for several minutes.
It comes just moments after the IDF confirmed that it was ordered by Netanyahu’s office to broadcast the premier’s UN speech to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as part of an ‘influence campaign.’
Netanyahu’s office said it had instructed the military to place loudspeakers on trucks on the Israeli side of the Gaza border only, without risking the lives of troops, though the IDF says it also brought such loudspeakers into the Strip.
Delegates leave the General Assembly hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu steps up to the podium to speak at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the General Debate
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