AFP, AP and Europa Press
The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, September 23, 2024, p. 25
Paris. The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, warned yesterday of the risk of Lebanon becoming a another Gazafollowing the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
In an exclusive interview, Guterrez told CNN that the recent detonation of communication devices in Lebanon means that there is a potential for much stronger escalationwhich he fears could be a devastating tragedy for the world. What worries me is the possibility of turning Lebanon into another Gazahe noted.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN representative in Lebanon, said hours earlier that it will be a impending catastrophe in the Middle East if this confrontation continues.”
Meanwhile, the European Union’s chancellor, Josep Borrell, expressed his extreme concern by the escalation in Lebanon and called for action to be taken to prevent open war. A ceasefire is urgently needed, both at the Blue Line (which has separated the Lebanese armed forces from those of Israel since 2000) and in Gaza. Civilians on both sides are paying a high price.he said in a statement.
Along the same lines, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, assured that his administration would do everything possible to prevent a wider war from breaking out in the region. White House security spokesman John Kirby said Washington is engaging in extended and quite assertive diplomacy.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote in X: Our message to all parties is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire to reach a political solution..
Iran claimed that the Israeli leadership will suffer the same fate that Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president (1979-2003) who was executed by hanging after having ruled with an iron fist.
Egypt warned that Israel’s unjustified escalation against Lebanon could provoke catastrophic consequences in the region and plunge it into a total war.
How much more death must Israel, a terrorist state sponsored by the United States, sow around itself before the international community sanctions and stops its crimes?, asked Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on the social network X. Silence is complicity. What is the United Nations for?he questioned.
