Palestinian Leader Abbas, at UN, Accuses Israel of Waging 'War of Genocide'

"We will not forget and we will not forgive, and we will not allow war criminals to escape punishment," Mahmud Abbas said in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

The 50-day war in Gaza-- the third war in the Gaza Strip in six years -- killed 2,140 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

"Israel has chosen to make it a year of a new war of genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people," he said.

The war in Gaza was "a series of absolute war crimes carried out before the eyes and ears of the entire world," he said.

The Palestinians have threatened to join the Hague-based International Criminal Court to allow legal action to be taken against Israel.

The war ended on August 26 when the two sides agreed in Cairo on a ceasefire and to hold future talks on Palestinian demands to end an eight-year blockade of Gaza.