UNITED NATIONS: The head of the UN warned that the situation was on the “brink” as world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to urge Israel to desist from starting a full-scale war in Lebanon.
Nobody has an interest in a full-scale conflict. In his farewell speech to the international organization, US President Joe Biden stated, “A diplomatic solution is still possible, even though the situation has escalated.”
Biden stated, “In fact, it continues to be the only route to long-term security to enable the citizens of both countries to return to their homes on the border safely.”
Speaking of the situation in the Palestinian territories as a “non-stop nightmare,” Antonio Guterres issued a warning against “the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza.” “The escalation should worry us all. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared, “Lebanon is at the brink.”
The UNGA unanimously passed a resolution last week demanding that Israel terminate its unlawful occupation of Palestinian areas within a year, a move that Palestine hailed as “historic.” This week, the group is meeting in New York City.
In addition, Biden told the international organization that it was time to “end this war” and pressed for the illusive peace between Israel and Hamas.
With Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani declaring that “there is no Israeli partner for peace” under Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration, mediator Qatar accused Israel of undermining negotiations for a truce in Gaza. “We will continue our efforts of mediation to resolve the disputes through peaceful means,” he continued, nonetheless.
The crisis prompted France to ask for an emergency meeting of the Security Council, while EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell issued a warning, saying, “We are almost in a full-fledged war.”
Israel was “not eager” for a ground invasion of Lebanon, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN. “We do not wish to send our boys to fight abroad,” he declared.
Aside from hundreds of people in Lebanon, Israeli troops have murdered at least 41,467 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in less than a year, the majority of whom were civilians. The Middle East has seen a surge in violence on several fronts.
UN fading into “irrelevant”
It is to be expected that many leaders will “warn that the UN will become irrelevant globally if it cannot help make peace,” according to Richard Gowan of the research tank International Crisis Group.
Mahmud Abbas, the president of Palestine, sat down next to the delegation, which had been given improved rights in May. The group was seated in alphabetical order for the first time.
King Abdullah II of Jordan denied at the rostrum on Tuesday that forcing Palestinians to relocate would be a “war crime.” “The notion of Jordan serving as a substitute homeland for Palestinians is unrealistic,” he declared.
“A country does not gain by escalation.”
World leaders convened in New York for the annual UN General Assembly on Monday, and the G7 nations issued a dire warning: “No country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.”
The G7 foreign ministers called for “a stop to the current destructive cycle” and stated that “actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences.”
“Not just children, the UN is dying in Gaza.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, blasted the UN for its silence on Gaza, calling it “the world’s largest children’s and women’s cemetery.”
He told the UNGA, “Not only are children dying in Gaza, but the UN system itself is as well.” “The truth and the principles that the West purports to uphold are under decline… I pose this question honestly: “Hey human rights organizations, aren’t those in the West Bank and Gaza human beings?”
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian denounced the United Nations’ “senseless and incomprehensible” inaction against Israel.
Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, described the Israeli onslaught as “a crime of genocide” and stated that “the blatant aggression that befalls the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip today is the most barbaric, heinous and extensive aggression.”
