New York.-The UN General Assembly opens on Tuesday, overshadowed by fears of a regional war in the Middle East, which will be at the heart of the work of the global diplomatic event that US President Joe Biden will attend for the last time.
The many conflicts that are ravaging the world, particularly those in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan, threaten to overshadow other concerns such as climate change, the risks of artificial intelligence and economic development.
Of the more than one hundred heads of state and government who will parade through the podium, many have already spoken at the “Summit of the Future,” which in the past two days addressed the most important challenges facing humanity.
“In recent years, climate change and development issues have been a priority at the General Assembly, but this year the focus will be on war and peace,” says Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group think tank.
Nearly a year after the outbreak of war in Gaza following an attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel, the conflict threatens to spread to the region.
Israeli airstrikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon killed nearly 500 people on Monday, the deadliest day in nearly a year of skirmishes between Israel and the Shiite group.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “gravely alarmed” by the shift in attention from Gaza to Lebanon, and EU foreign minister Josep Borrell warned that humanity was “on the brink of all-out war.”
France has called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council this week to address the crisis.
Biden, who has said he is working on a “de-escalation” process, will take the stand on Tuesday – after Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – for the last time in his term. In January he will hand over the baton to the winner of the presidential race in November.
“Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan will be the dominant issues,” Gowan said, warning that the UN could become “globally irrelevant if it cannot help achieve peace.”
“Peace is under attack from all sides,” warned Secretary Guterres, calling for an end to “the procession of human misery.”
New Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas, accused Israel on Monday of wanting to “expand” the conflict in the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will take the stand on Wednesday, but will take part in a Security Council meeting on Tuesday to address the conflict in Ukraine.
The crisis in Venezuela following the presidential elections on July 28, whose victory was claimed by Nicolás Maduro amid accusations of fraud by the opposition, or the risks of misinformation for democracies – a discussion promoted by the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, and Lula – will momentarily take the focus off the armed conflicts.
In addition to Lula and several South American counterparts, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas; and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, will parade through the podium of the imposing General Assembly hall.
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2024-09-26 04:10:53
