T + T – Normal size
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his fear on Tuesday that Lebanon could become “another Gaza,” warning in his speech before the UN General Assembly that “Lebanon is on the brink of the abyss.”
In his speech, which was laden with sorrow for the state of the world, Guterres addressed the world’s unresolved problems, saying that Gaza is “a constant nightmare that threatens to drag the entire region into chaos, starting with Lebanon. The Lebanese people, the Israeli people, and the people of the world cannot allow Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
He added: “We should all be concerned about this escalation… Lebanon is on the brink of the abyss.”
powder keg
Guterres considered that “the world is stuck in a spiral” where geopolitical divisions are worsening and “wars are raging without us knowing how they will end.”
“We are heading straight towards the unimaginable, towards a powder keg that threatens to ignite the world,” he added.
“We cannot continue like this,” he said, adding that the impunity prevailing in the world had caused the situation.
“The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally unacceptable,” he added. “Today, a growing number of governments feel entitled to use, as in the game of Monopoly, the ‘you’re out of jail’ card.”
“They can trample on international law. They can violate the UN Charter. They can ignore international human rights agreements or international court decisions. They can make a mockery of international humanitarian law. They can invade another country, destroy entire communities or completely disregard the well-being of their own people, and nothing will happen,” he continued.
Guterres also referred to Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Yemen, where violence and suffering continue due to the chronic inability to find solutions.
climate collapse
On the other hand, Guterres highlighted the instability of a world threatened by the “unpredictable” development of artificial intelligence and the growing effects of climate change.
“We are witnessing a real climate collapse,” he said, again pointing to fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming.
He stressed that “extreme temperatures, violent fires, droughts and catastrophic floods are not natural disasters, but rather human disasters that fossil fuels are perpetuating.”
