Scores of diplomats walked out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, in protest against the devastating war on Gaza and the latest attacks on Lebanon.

Several diplomats could be seen walking out in haste as Netanyahu entered the great hall to speak from the rostrum, with the presiding diplomat having to shout “order, please” as the Israeli leader took to the stage.

The war on Gaza, now approaching its one-year mark, has turned much of the enclave into an uninhabitable hellscape.

More than 42,000 people have been killed, almost the entire population are reported to have fled their homes at least once, and those in northern Gaza are on the verge of famine.

Meanwhile, whole neighbourhoods and families have been erased, with homes, schools and hospitals devastated by air strikes and tank fire. 

Despite the bloodbath, Israel has sought to expand the war, and in the past week has been relentlessly bombing Lebanon, killing more than 700 people, including scores of women and children.

Visibly angry due to the mass walkout, Netanyahu defended his response to the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. The war on Gaza has reduced most of the enclave to rubble.

“Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safely. And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Netanyahu said. “We will not rest until the remaining hostages are brought home.”

Netanyahu’s speech was also replete with dire warnings that there could be more carnage to come.

“I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran: if you strike us, we will strike you. There is no place no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach and that’s true of the entire Middle East,” he said.

Tensions between Israel and Iran have been on the rise since Israel attacked Iran’s embassy complex in Damascus and assassinated Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Iranian officials have said that Tehran reserves the right to retaliate at their chosen time and place.

Israel’s wars in the Middle East have been one of the main topics of conversation as world leaders gathered in New York City for the annual summit at Un headquarters.

World leaders have been calling for an end to the fighting, with several of them, including US President Joe Biden, reiterating calls for a ceasefire.

Netanyahu, however, seemed to pour cold water on the idea, telling the UN that his military would keep striking Lebanon with “all our might”.

“We’re at war with Hezbollah,’ he said. ‘As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice. And Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely.”

On Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas challenged Israel’s “lies” and asked who was responsible for the killing of 15,000 Palestinian children, if not Israel.

“Stop this crime. Stop this now. Stop killing children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop sending weapons to Israel. This madness cannot continue. The entire world is responsible for what is happening to our people in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said.