Israel-Hezbollah escalation eclipses UN General Assembly

As world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Bruce Riedel told the Washington Post that this assembly “could become an all-Lebanon UNGA” on Monday.

“Joe Biden, more than most presidents, has a history of foreign policy activity and accomplishments and I’m sure he wants to go out on a high note. But the Israel-Lebanon issue is going to make that very hard to do,” he said.

In a meeting with President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates – who also urged Israel to avoid escalation through state media earlier on Monday – Biden said, “I’ve been briefed on the latest developments in Israel and Lebanon. My team is in constant contact with their counterparts, and we’re working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return to their home safely,”

“There are essentially two UNGAs. There’s the official agenda, and then there’s what everyone’s talking about, and those two things rarely match,” said Jeffrey Feltman, a former top UN official and the US ambassador to Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. 

“Really, everybody is going to be talking about Gaza, the Middle East, the fear of escalation, and Ukraine.”

Masoud Pezeshkian

Reuters reported that when Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian arrived for the assembly, he said, "We do not wish to be the cause of instability in the Middle East as its consequences would be irreversible."

"We want to live in peace, we don't want war," he added. "It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict."

Pezeshkian's call to resolve the Middle East conflict through dialog came just hours after an intense operation conducted by the IDF, marking Monday the largest attack on Hezbollah since 2006.

"We will defend any group that is defending its rights and itself," Pezeshkian said when asked whether Iran will enter the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with no further elaboration. 

Despite his call for a peaceful resolution, when asked if Iran would retaliate for the assassination of Palestinian militant group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil in late July, Pezeshkian said, "We will respond at the appropriate time and place, in an appropriate manner.

The G7

"Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences," the G7 said in a statement after meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Reuters reported.

"They called for a stop to the current destructive cycle, while emphasizing that no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East."