Biden warns against 'full-scale war' in Middle East

UNITED NATIONS:

US President Joe Biden asked world leaders on Tuesday to prevent "full-scale war" over Lebanon, as clashes escalated between Israel and Hezbollah, prompting the UN chief to warn of a situation "on the brink."

The UN General Assembly, the high point of the diplomatic calendar, comes as Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes 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," 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.

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

UN Security Council member France called for an emergency meeting on the crisis, and the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell warned "we are almost in a full-fledged war."

"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran -- which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas -- condemned the "senseless and incomprehensible" inaction by the UN against Israel, as 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.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, has opposed a ground invasion into Lebanon. A senior official said ahead of Biden's speech that the United States would bring "concrete" ideas for de-escalation to the UN.

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

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

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon hit back at the UN chief, calling the General Assembly debate an "annual charade of hypocrisy."

"When the UN Secretary General speaks about the release of our hostages, the UN assembly is silent, but when he speaks about the suffering in Gaza, he receives thunderous applause," Danon said.

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 October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel and the ensuing violence in the Middle East has exposed deep divisions in the global body.

Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group think tank said he expected many leaders to "warn that the UN will become irrelevant globally if it cannot help make peace."

With Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expected to address the General Assembly this week, there could be combustible moments.

Abbas took his seat alongside the Palestinian delegation, placed in alphabetical order in the General Assembly for the first time 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."

"The idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland (for Palestinians)... will never happen," he said.

Ukraine will also be on the agenda Tuesday when President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a UN Security Council meeting on the Russian invasion.

Biden said that Russian President Vladimir "Putin's war has failed at its core aim. He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free."

Despite lofty speeches, it was uncertain what the grand diplomatic gathering can achieve for the millions mired in conflict, poverty and climate crisis globally.

"Any real diplomacy to reduce tensions will take place behind the scenes," Gowan said.