“Propaganda of fallen forces”: Bangladesh denies presence at Netanyahu’s UNGA address

Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder dismissed as baseless the claims circulating on social media that the Bangladesh delegation was present in the UN General Assembly Hall during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, calling them “propaganda of the fallen forces.”

“Lies are their only recourse now,” he said, emphasising Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus’s official engagements on Friday morning, ahead of his address at the 80th UNGA.

Azad said the chief adviser had two pre-scheduled programmes that morning.

The first was a meeting with officials of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center, an international platform comprising former presidents and prime ministers of various countries, held at the hotel at 9:00 am (New York time).

The second was a meeting with the Prime Minister of Bhutan, which took place at the UN Headquarters at 10:30 am, according to a UNB report.

“When the Bangladesh delegation, led by the Chief Adviser, entered the General Assembly Hall after these meetings, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, was delivering his speech,” Azad provided as evidence.

He said the speeches of the Prime Ministers of Israel, Pakistan, and China had already concluded well before the Bangladesh delegation entered the Assembly Hall.

As the Israeli leader spoke, unintelligible shouts echoed around the hall, while applause came from supporters in the gallery.

Many seats were vacant; by Iran’s empty chairs stood a compilation of photos of children that Tehran said were killed during Israel’s war there in June.

Surrounded by critics and protesters at the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders on Friday that his nation “must finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza, giving a defiant speech despite growing international isolation over his refusal to end the devastating war.

“Western leaders may have buckled under the pressure,” he said. “And I guarantee you one thing: Israel won’t.”

Netanyahu’s speech, aimed as much at his increasingly divided domestic audience as the global one, began after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the UN General Assembly hall en masse on Friday morning as he began.

Responding to countries’ recent decisions to recognise Palestinian statehood, Netanyahu said, “Your disgraceful decision will encourage terrorism against Jews and against innocent people everywhere.”