UNITED NATIONS, United States — World leaders lined up at the United Nations on Tuesday to call on Israel to refrain from a full-scale war in Lebanon, with the organiSation’s chief warning the situation was on the “brink.”
The UN General Assembly, the high point of the international diplomatic calendar, comes after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes had killed 558 people – 50 of them children.
“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” US President Joe Biden said in his farewell address to the global body.
“In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely,” Biden said ahead of an emergency UN Security Council session on Lebanon planned for Wednesday.
Biden’s remarks drew disappointment from Lebanon’s foreign minister Abdullah Bou Habib who said they were “not promising” and “would not solve the Lebanese problem,” as he estimated that the number of people displaced by Israel’s strikes has likely soared to reach half a million.
“We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when he opened the gathering.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said his country was “not eager” for a ground invasion of Lebanon.
“We don’t want to send our boys to fight in a foreign country,” he said.
