UN chief warns Lebanon becoming ‘another Gaza' as world leaders gather

NEW YORK

The U.N. chief warned world leaders on Tuesday that Lebanon was on "the brink" and cautioned against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza," as clashes escalated between Israel and Hezbollah ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's final appearance at the global body's signature annual event.

The gathering of dozens of world leaders, the high point of the diplomatic calendar, comes as Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes killed 558 people -- 50 of them children.

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

Biden then took the stage, and urged Israel and Hamas to finalize a months-old ceasefire proposal, telling the United Nations he was committed to ending the Gaza war.

"Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms," he said of the deal brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

The deal will "bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza free from Hamas's grip, ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war," Biden told the U.N. General Assembly.

Biden also said that the United States plans to donate one million doses of the mpox vaccine to African nations facing an epidemic of the virus.

An international emergency was declared by the World Health Organization last month after the surge in cases of a new strain of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to nearby countries.

"We must now move quickly to face (the) mpox outbreak in Africa," Biden told the UN General Assembly in New York.

"We are ready to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to mpox and to donate one million doses of mpox vaccine, now."

As world leaders gathered in Manhattan for the annual flurry of speeches and face-to-face diplomacy, U.N. Security Council member France called Monday for an emergency meeting on the crisis engulfing the Middle East.

As the toll in Lebanon climbed, focus shifted away from the situation in Gaza, and the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell warned "we are almost in a full-fledged war."

The United States, Israel's closest ally, again warned against a full-blown ground invasion of Lebanon, with a senior U.S. official promising to bring "concrete" ideas for de-escalation to the U.N. this week.

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

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

More than 100 heads of state and government are scheduled to speak during the U.N.'s centerpiece event, which will run until Monday.

 'Out-of-control' 

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.

"International challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them," Guterres warned ahead of the gathering.

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

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

On Tuesday, representatives of Türkiye, Jordan, Qatar, Iran and Algeria are slated to take the podium to press for a Gaza ceasefire after nearly one year of war.

Ukraine will also be on the agenda Tuesday when President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a U.N. Security Council meeting on Russia's war on Ukraine.

"I invite all leaders and nations to continue supporting our joint efforts for a just and peaceful future," Zelensky told the U.N. on Monday.

"Putin has stolen much already, but he will never steal the world's future."

  'Behind the scenes' 

It is unclear if the grand diplomatic gathering can achieve anything for the millions mired in conflict and poverty globally.

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

"This may be an opportunity for Western and Arab diplomats to have some quiet conversations with the Iranians about the need to stop the regional situation spinning out of control."

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has called for an urgent meeting of Arab leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly over the crisis in Lebanon.

Guterres cautioned against "the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza."