World leaders at UN warn against ‘full-scale war’ over Lebanon

US President Joe Biden speaks during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on 24 September 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP)

• World leaders at the UN urged Israel to avoid a
  full-scale war in Lebanon.
• US President Biden and other international figures pushed
  for a ceasefire and diplomatic solutions to the escalating tensions in Lebanon
  and Gaza.
• The UN General Assembly discussions also covered broader
  regional and global conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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.

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“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.

‘End this war’

It is unclear what progress can be made to defuse the
situation in Lebanon, with efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza – which Israel
has relentlessly pounded since October 2023 – coming to nothing.

Biden on Tuesday pushed again for an elusive ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas, telling the global body it was time to “end this
war.”

Mediator Qatar accused Israel of obstructing Gaza ceasefire
talks, with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani saying “there is no
Israeli partner for peace” under the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

But he added:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of
dragging the entire region “into war.”

“Not only children but also the UN system is dying in
Gaza,” Erdogan said in a scathing speech.

Guterres cautioned against “the possibility of
transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza,” calling the situation in the
Palestinian territory a “non-stop nightmare.”

European Council President Charles Michel said that Israel
had the right to exist and defend itself but without inflicting
“collective punishment” on civilians living in areas targeted by its
military.

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran – which backs Hezbollah
in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza – condemned “senseless and
incomprehensible” inaction by the UN against Israel.

‘Charade of hypocrisy’

British foreign minister David Lammy also sounded the alarm
over the escalating violence in Lebanon.

“I am very worried about the risk of escalation, and
this breaking into a wider regional conflict,” he told AFP as Britain
announced it was deploying military units to Cyprus to assist with any
evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.

Responding to criticism of Israel, Danon called the General
Assembly debate an “annual charade of hypocrisy.”

Since last year’s annual gathering, when Sudan’s civil war
and Russia’s Ukraine invasion dominated, the world has faced an explosion of
crises.

The 7 October attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel
resulted in the deaths of 1 205 people and prompted a military response in Gaza
that authorities say has killed at least 41 467 people.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still
held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

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Violence has raged across multiple fronts in the Middle East
since the crisis erupted, with the conflict exposing deep divisions at the UN.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas took his seat alongside
the Palestinian delegation, placed in alphabetical order in the General
Assembly for the first time on Tuesday after the delegation received upgraded
privileges in May.

At the rostrum, Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday ruled
out the forced displacement by Israel of Palestinians to his country, which he
said would be a “war crime.”

Ukraine was also on the agenda Tuesday with President
Volodymyr Zelensky addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Russian
invasion.

“Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is
exactly what’s needed – forcing Russia into peace,” Zelensky said.