{"id":30555,"date":"2026-03-16T02:23:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=30555"},"modified":"2026-03-16T02:23:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:23:40","slug":"un-chief-guterres-says-no-military-solution-only-diplomacy-for-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=30555","title":{"rendered":"UN chief Guterres says \u2018no military solution, only diplomacy\u2019 for Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sources report Lebanon preparing a delegation for talks with Israel, while Guterres drums up humanitarian support.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The aftermath of an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Lebanon, on March 14, 2026 [Hassan Ammar\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The United Nations secretary-general says the Lebanese people have been \u201cdragged into\u201d\u00a0war<\/a>, and has\u00a0called for an end to the fighting, as Israel keeps up its assault on several areas of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe south [of Lebanon] risks becoming a wasteland. Southern Beirut, which is under sweeping evacuation orders by Israel, risks being bombed to oblivion,\u201d Antonio Guterres said at a news conference in Beirut on Saturday. \u201cThere is no military solution, only diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres is visiting the country to launch a flash appeal for $325m to support the 800,000-plus people who have been internally displaced since Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2, when\u00a0Hezbollah<\/a>\u00a0attacked Israel in response to the US-Israeli killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali\u00a0Khamenei<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked by Al Jazeera\u2019s Bernard Smith whether Israel\u2019s forcible evacuation orders, now covering 14 percent of the country, were \u201cconsistent with international humanitarian law\u201d, Guterres said: \u201cWhatever does not create enough security for civilians inevitably becomes in violation of international humanitarian law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli army has issued sweeping evacuation orders to residents of south Lebanon and Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs as it hammered the areas, killing a family of four in the southern city of Sidon and one person in an attack on a residential building in Bourj Hammoud, located east of Beirut, on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres said that a UN special coordinator was engaging with \u201call actors around the clock to bring the parties to the table\u201d and that peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force \u201cremain in position\u201d, warning that attacks on the latter were \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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