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Fears of a wider war in the Middle East have dominated the UN General Assembly. President Biden says there is still time for diplomacy, but few in the audience seem to believe him, as Israel continues to trade rocket fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon and pursue Hamas militants in Gaza, with Palestinian civilians paying the price. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres set a somber tone for this year's high-level debate, calling this the age of impunity, citing not only Russia's war against Ukraine and the conflict in Sudan, but also the expanding war in the Middle East.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES: Gaza is a nonstop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it. Look no further than Lebanon. We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.
KELEMEN: U.S. officials say they're proposing some concrete ideas to de-escalate. President Biden, in his speech, says he thinks that is possible. But a first step is to get Hamas and Israel to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza and end a war that he says Hamas started when it attacked Israel and took hostages last October.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Now is the time for the party to finalize its terms - bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza, free of Hamas' grip, ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war.
KELEMEN: But speaker after speaker questioned whether Israel is ready to make a deal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the U.S. of being insincere, talking about a cease-fire while shipping more arms to Israel. Erdogan also says Israel has been stalling and always finding an excuse to continue the war. Jordan's King Abdullah says Israel has crossed one red line after another with impunity.
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KING ABDULLAH II BIN AL-HUSSEIN: This Israeli government has killed more children, more journalists, more aid workers and more medical personnel than any other war in recent memory. And let us not forget the attacks on the West Bank.
KELEMEN: King Abdullah says settler violence in the occupied West Bank has surged and entire Palestinian villages have been displaced. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed his visit to New York, but is still expected to speak here on Friday, according to Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon. The ambassador brushed off the criticism Israel has faced over Gaza and Lebanon. He says everyone should put pressure on Hezbollah to pull back and stop firing rockets into Israel.
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DANNY DANON: If they will not fire rockets into Israel, and we will be able to bring back our residents back to their communities, that's it - you have no escalation. And as we speak, yes, there are important forces trying to come up with ideas, and we are open-minded for that.
KELEMEN: Danon says Israel prefers diplomacy but won't let those he calls Israel's terrorist cronies continue to threaten Israelis. Iran's new president, making his UN debut, accuses Israel of seeking a wider war. While U.S. officials say there are no plans to meet President Masoud Pezeshkian, the UN secretary general did talk to the Iranian leader about the need for regional de-escalation and Iran's role in that.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the United Nations.
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