The six-day general debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly kicked off in New York on Tuesday. The theme this year is “Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations”.
As the UN chief Antonio Guterres said, the world is in a vortex of change, facing unprecedented challenges that require global solutions. However, geopolitical divisions continue to deepen; the average global temperature continues to rise; wars are intensifying, with no end in sight; and nuclear weapons have cast an ominous shadow over the conflicts. The world is gradually moving toward a cataclysm that could engulf the whole of humanity.
Countries must face up to the three major factors that contribute to the volatility: the violations and abuses of international law and the UN Charter that are carried out with impunity; the injustice and resentment produced by inequality; and the unmanaged global risks that create uncertainty, threatening the future of humanity in unknowable ways.
Acting with impunity is politically untenable and morally intolerable. Today, more and more governments and others believe they are entitled to a get-out-of-jail-free card; that they can trample on international law, violate the UN Charter, turn a blind eye to international human rights conventions or the decisions of the International Court of Justice, thumb their noses at international humanitarian law, invade another country, devastate an entire society, or simply disregard the well-being of their own people.
This impunity is evident around the world, in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, in the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere. The flames of war in Ukraine are spreading with no sign of abating. Civilians are paying the price, with the death toll rising and lives and communities shattered. Now is the time for a just peace based on the UN Charter, international law and UN resolutions.
Guterres correctly pointed out that Gaza is an endless nightmare that threatens to drag the entire region into the abyss, and that Lebanon is on the brink.
The Israeli army has carried out air strikes on more than 2,000 Hezbollah targets and killed more than 600 Lebanese people over the past few days, making that the bloodiest period in Lebanon over the past 20 years. All signs show Israel is preparing to start a full-scale war against the neighbor.
The Lebanese people, the Israeli people, and the people of the world must not let Lebanon become another Gaza.