World leaders at UN warn against 'full-scale war' over Israeli aggression

World leaders lined up at the United Nations on Tuesday to call on Israel to refrain from a full-scale war in Lebanon, with the organization's chief warning the situation was on the "brink.

The U.N. General Assembly, the high point of the international diplomatic calendar, comes after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes had killed 558 people — 50 of them children.

"Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," U.S. President Joe Biden said in his farewell address to the global body.

"In fact, it remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely," Biden said ahead of an emergency U.N. Security Council session on Lebanon planned for Wednesday.

Biden's remarks drew disappointment from Lebanon's foreign minister Abdullah Bou Habib who said they were "not promising" and "would not solve the Lebanese problem," as he estimated that the number of people displaced by Israel's strikes has likely soared to reach half a million.

"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when he opened the gathering.

 'End this war' 

It is unclear what progress can be made to defuse the situation in Lebanon, with efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza — which Israel has relentlessly pounded since October 2023 — coming to nothing.

Biden on Tuesday pushed again for an elusive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, telling the global body it was time to "end this war."

Mediator Qatar accused Israel of obstructing Gaza ceasefire talks, with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani...