As Israel targets Lebanon after ruining Gaza, global body’s failures in focus
The hegemony of the United States and its allies has been blamed for weakening the United Nations’ system amid the UN’s failure to hold Israel accountable for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza — and now Lebanon — despite resolutions and court advisories.
Analysts said the UN is losing its political influence, making the case for reforms of its system more urgent, as seen in fresh calls made this week by several states and world leaders.
Saudi Arabia and Algeria were among the countries that highlighted the world organization’s need for reforms during a high-level meeting of global leaders for the UN General Assembly in New York.
In his address at the UN on Sept 23, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud warned that the international institutions were “unfit for purpose,” as demonstrated by the UN’s inability to hold Israel accountable for “all the atrocities it has committed,” according to a report by Arab News.
Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf called out the “imbalance” as a source of “very serious tension, upheaval, all of which are thwarting international relations”. He also claimed that the UN was marginalizing African States in the UN Security Council.
Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar whose country has been a mediator in Israel-Hamas cease-fire negotiations, described the “blatant aggression” against Palestinians in Gaza as the “most barbaric, heinous, and extensive” breach of human values, international charters, and norms.
Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the UN for its inaction in Gaza and slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging the Middle East region deeper into war. Erdogan appealed to the international community to stop Netanyahu “and his murder network”, likening the Israeli leader to German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
George Gerapetritis, the minister of foreign affairs of Greece, told Reuters in an interview that it seemed that there was no effective pressure being brought on Israel.
“We have not prevented the spillover, and the more dispersed the war becomes, the more the situation becomes more complicated to be solved,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding that Lebanon “could easily be a zone of tremendous hostility, and this is something that we cannot deal with. It’s a clear minefield”.
Greece had been elected as a member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) from 2025 to 2026 earlier this year and believes its historical ties with the Arabs and Israel make it a credible player to act as a peace broker.
Dina Yulianti Sulaeman, director of the Indonesia Center for Middle East Studies, told China Daily that the “increasingly open statements” of several Arab leaders condemning Israeli violence in Palestine show that they feel they can no longer remain silent “as they have been”.
She also said the proposal to reform the UN “is reasonable”, considering that the institution “is not democratic” as decisions of majority of member states can be overturned by just one veto.
“Especially on the issue of Palestine, the US has always sided with Israel and thwarted many international efforts to stop the violence that has occurred. This US attitude is the biggest obstacle to creating peace in the Middle East,” said Sulaeman.
Umer Karim, an associate fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said the deadlock at the UNSC is probably the reason why Arab countries are pushing for the reforms.
He said the “UNSC has become a nonfunctional body now where there is seldom any unanimity of views, resulting in a reduction in its political value and impact”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a post on the social media platform X, called the situation in Gaza a “non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it”, and also warned that Lebanon “is at the brink” and “cannot afford to become another Gaza”.
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the air attacks were not the end of the story in Lebanon, the Joe Biden administration is reportedly working on a new diplomatic initiative for a “pause” in the fighting in Lebanon and a resumption of negotiations for a Gaza cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian Hamas.
