Hours before his speech, the prime minister's office announced his address to the U.N. General Assembly would be broadcast live on loudspeakers aimed at Gaza from the Israeli side of the border.
Netanyahu made clear that his intended audience ranged well beyond the chamber, reading a message in Hebrew and then in English to roughly 20 hostages still believed to be alive inside Gaza.
"Our brave brothers, this is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to you live from the United Nations. We have not forgotten you, not even for a second. The people of Israel are with you. We will not falter and we will not rest until we bring all of you home," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also said his speech was being streamed live to the cellphones of Gazans.
"So, to the remaining Hamas leaders and to the jailers of our hostages, I now say, 'Lay down your arms, let my people go, free the hostages, all of them, the whole 48, free the hostages now. If you do, you will live. If you don't, Israel will hunt you down,'" Netanyahu said.
Holding up a map he displayed last year of threats against Israel connected to Iran, he listed off what he said were successful military and counterterrorism campaigns against them carried out through the last 12 months—using a black marker to cross them off.
"Over the past year, we've hammered the Houthis, including yesterday," the prime minister said. "We crushed the bulk of Hamas terror machine. We crippled Hezbollah, taking out most of its leaders and much of its weapons arsenal. You remember those beepers, the pagers--we paged Hezbollah, and believe me, they got the message. And thousands of terrorists, thousands of terrorists, dropped to the ground."
He thanked President Donald Trump by name for helping Israel strike Iranian nuclear sites in June, saying they had eliminated "a mortal threat to the civilized world."
"President Trump and I promised to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and we delivered on that promise," Netanyahu said. "We lifted a dark cloud that could have claimed millions and millions of lives."
Before departing Tel Aviv on Thursday, Netanyahu vowed to take a strong stance against the countries that had formally announced their support for an independent Palestinian state during the annual global summit
"I have a message for these leaders, when the most savage terrorists on Earth are effusively praising your decision, you didn't do something right, you did something wrong, horribly wrong," the prime minister said in his U.N. speech.
"It will be a mark of shame on all of you," Netanyahu added.
In addition to a frosty reception from heads of state opposed to Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza, Netanyahu also faced protests while in New York.
Family members of some of the hostages held in Gaza had announced plans to demonstrate outside of the U.N. headquarters during the prime minister's speech, calling on Netanyahu and other leaders to prioritize the release of the hostages.
Even before Netanyahu arrived in New York, Israel's isolation at the United Nations was evident.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani labeled Israel as a "rogue government" during his speech to the assembly on Tuesday, calling the Israeli airstrike on Hamas leadership in Doha earlier this month a "treacherous attack."
"They visit our country and plot to attack it. They negotiate with delegations and plot to assassinate the members of the negotiation teams. It is difficult to cooperate with such a mentality that does not respect the most minimum standards of cooperation," he said. "It is impossible."
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres decried the war in Gaza during his remarks opening the General Debate.
"The scale of death and destruction are beyond any other conflict in my years as secretary-general," he asserted.
"Nothing can justify the horrific Hamas terror attacks of October 7 and the taking of hostages, both of which I have repeatedly condemned. And nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Guterres added.
