A full-scale Israeli-Lebanese war is not in anyone’s interest, US President Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, stressing that a diplomatic resolution was still possible and calling on Israel and Hamas to finalize a Gaza ceasefire deal.“A full-scale war [between Israel and Lebanon] is not in anyone’s interests, even in a situation that is escalating, a diplomatic solution still possible,” he told the plenum, which began the high-level portion of the opening of its 79th session in New York as the IDF continued its preemptive attacks against Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon.Diplomacy “remains the only plan” that would allow evacuated Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes on both sides of the border, he said.
In a wide-ranging policy speech, Biden also spoke of the importance of preventing a nuclear Iran and the importance of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
The main mediators of that deal to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza have been Qatar and Egypt with the help of the United Nations.
Time to finalize terms
“I put forward with Qatar and Egypt a cease fire and hostage deal. It's been endorsed by the UN Security Council. Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home to secure security for Israel and Gaza free of Hamas grip, ease the suffering in Gaza, and end this [Gaza war],” Biden said.
Biden strongly condemned the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, in which over 1,200 people were killed and another 251 seized as hostages. He also underscored Israel’s right to self-defense at a time when the UN General Assembly has sought to strip Israel of that right.
“The world must not flinch from the horrors of October 7. Any country, any country, must have the right responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again,” Biden said.
On October 7, Hamas “terrorists invaded a sovereign state, slaughtering and massacring more than 1200 people, including 46 Americans in their homes and at a music festival,” Biden said.
The perpetrators of that attack “committed despicable acts of sexual violence” in which 251 “innocents [were] taken hostage,” Biden said.
“I've met with the families of those hostages. I've grieved with them. They're going through hell,” Biden said. He also underscored that “innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell,” with thousands killed and injured, including aid workers.
Hamas has reported that over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the year-long Gaza war. Israel has said that some 17,000 fatalities in Gaza are combatants.
“Too many families [are] dislocated, crowding in the tents facing a dire humanitarian situation. They didn't ask for this war that Hamas started,” Biden stated.
He also explained that Hezbollah after October 7 had launched an unprovoked attack on Israel, as he explained that the US was working to “prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire region.”It’s also important to "address the rising violence against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank and set the conditions for a better future including a two-state solution,” Biden said.In this scenario Israel would “enjoy security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors,” Biden said.Palestinians would “live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own,” he said.“Progress toward peace would put us in a stronger position to counter the ongoing threat posed by Iran,” Biden said. “Together we must deny oxygen to its [Iran’s] terrorist proxies which have called for more October 7” style attacks, Biden said.The international community must “ensure that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he stressed.