New York [US], September 26 (ANI): The Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has rolled out a public diplomacy campaign in New York, featuring dozens of massive billboards and mobile trucks emblazoned with the message 'Remember October 7', strategically placed around the United Nations headquarters and the bustling Times Square, to underscore the horrors of the Hamas-led attacks and the ongoing plight of 48 hostages held captive in Gaza.

The initiative, spearheaded by the PMO and PM's spokesperson unit ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80), aims to jolt world leaders and the global public into confronting the brutality of Hamas.

'Ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister's Office and the PM's Spokesperson's unit have initiated a public diplomacy campaign in New York on dozens of huge billboards and trucks around the UN building and in Times Square,' Israeli PMO said in a post on X.

'The goal of the campaign is to remind world leaders and the public about the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas and the unbelievable brutality of the terrorist organisation that continues to hold 48 hostages in captivity in Gaza,' it added.

https://x.com/israelipm/status/1971250363778072948?s=46&t=TbrKHKgG29uXA1CMFN38Pw

Each billboard and truck prominently displays the English slogan 'Remember October 7', accompanied by a QR code that, when scanned, directs users to a dedicated website hosting documentation of the October 7 attack in 2023, where Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and more than 200 individuals.

'The public diplomacy front has been significantly strengthened during the current visit of the Prime Minister and his delegation,' the PMO added.

Israeli PM Netanyahu will be addressing the UNGA high-level debate on Friday, a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a fiery speech, condemning Israel's actions as crimes against humanity and rejecting Hamas's role in post-war Gaza governance.

Abbas, addressing the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video link after the Trump administration denied visas to him and his delegation, stated that Israel's actions in Gaza are war crimes and crimes against humanity.

'What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression. It is a war crime and a crime against humanity that is both documented and monitored, and it will be recorded in history books and the pages of international conscience as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries,' Abbas said.

He also made it clear that he does not endorse the actions of Hamas during the October 7 assault on Israel.

Rejecting any role for Hamas in the future government, Abbas insisted, 'Hamas will not have a role to play in governance,' stressing that armed groups must disarm.

'Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons to the Palestinian National Authority as part of a process to build the institutions of one state, one law and one legal security force. We reiterate that we do not want an armed state. Ladies and gentlemen, our wounds are deep and our calamity is great,' he added. (ANI)