(United Nations) “Lebanon is on the brink of the abyss,” the UN Secretary General warned Tuesday before the leaders gathered in New York for the annual diplomatic high mass, overshadowed by fears of a regional war in the Middle East.
After two days of the “Summit of the Future” devoted to the great challenges facing humanity for generations to come, more than 100 heads of state and government – including US President Joe Biden for the last time – will take turns at the podium throughout the week as conflicts rage across the planet, particularly in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
“Gaza is a continuing nightmare that threatens to drag the entire region into chaos. Starting with Lebanon. The Lebanese people, the Israeli people and the people of the world cannot afford for Lebanon to become another Gaza,” said UN chief Antonio Guterres.
“We should all be alarmed by this escalation. Lebanon is on the brink.”
PHOTO SETH WENIG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressing the assembly in New York.
Nearly a year after the start of the war in the small Palestinian territory triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, the conflict threatens to spread to the Middle East.
Israeli strikes against Lebanon’s Hezbollah left more than 500 dead Monday in Lebanon, which experienced its deadliest day in nearly a year of exchanges of fire between the two sides on the sidelines of the Gaza war. And Israel carried out new strikes Tuesday against targets of Hezbollah, backed by Iran and allied with Palestinian Hamas.
Joe Biden, who has reaffirmed that he is “working toward de-escalation,” will take the podium Tuesday morning for his final address to the General Assembly. The United States opposes a ground invasion of Lebanon and will present “concrete ideas” to its partners this week at the UN to de-escalate the conflict, a senior U.S. official said Monday.
Iran’s new President Massoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas and who will make his first speech at the UN, accused Israel on Monday of seeking to “expand” the conflict in the Middle East.
“Procession of human miseries”
“We are on the brink of total war” in Lebanon, also warned the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, while France requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council during this already overloaded diplomatic week.
On Tuesday, at the request of the Ukrainians who, according to diplomatic sources, feared this year that “their” war would be overshadowed, the Council will meet on Ukraine in the presence of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the star of the 2023 edition.
The Ukrainian leader, who is due to address the assembly on Wednesday, called on Monday “all countries to continue supporting our joint efforts for a peaceful future.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already stolen so much, but he will not steal the future of the world, he said, as he is due to present his “plan for victory” to his American counterpart this week.
Other headliners in the parade of leaders on the podium this week include Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
But “the real diplomacy to reduce tensions will take place behind the scenes,” says Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group, suggesting that Western and Arab diplomats may have the possibility of talks with the Iranians to “keep the regional situation from spiraling out of control.”
“World leaders must commit during the UN General Assembly to bold action to end atrocities in the world’s worst crises and hold those responsible to account,” said Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch.