Baerbock tasks Netanyahu, Hezbollah on ceasefire, UN on female scribe

Says a broader regional escalation would not bring anyone long lasting security

 

Admin I Friday, September 27, 2024

 

NEW YORK – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to agree to the proposal for an immediate 21-day ceasefire.

“A broader regional escalation would not bring anyone long lasting security,” the German minister said at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

Baerbock said the lack of progress was frustrating, but “we are not giving up on seeking a political vision for Israelis and Palestinians to be able to live peacefully side by side in two states.”

“For me, resignation is simply not an option, because that would mean that the playbook of terrorism and extremism carries the day,” Baerbock said.

A joint demand for a ceasefire lasting 21 days was issued by a handful of countries, including the US, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The pause is intended to create space for a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the nearly year-long Gaza war.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the plan and said that no truce was imminent and attacks would continue in Lebanon.

Baerbock is also  calling for the first woman to lead the United Nations, urging the international body to elect a female secretary general after nearly 80 years of male leadership.

Women make up 50% of every country, Baerbock said at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, “but in 80 years, this organization has never had a female secretary general.”

“So if this organization calls for equality and justice in the world, it is long overdue for us to show it here in New York,” she added.

“The next secretary general of this organization has to be a woman,” Baerbock said.

So far, there have been nine heads of the world organization, all men, including current Secretary General António Guterres.

Guterres, whose second term ends in 2026, has expressed support for a female successor.

In UN circles, a person from the Global South is considered likely, with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley emerging as a potential contender.