Biden addresses UN General Assembly for last time
Biden called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, condemning Hamas and Hezbollah for the unprovoked atttacks last October • Benjamin Netanyahu is due to speak on Friday amid escalations in the north
US President Joe Biden gave a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, which is his final speech to the body as president.
Biden called for an end to the fighting with Israel, blaming Hamas and Hezbollah for attacking Israel unprovoked. He voiced solidarity with the families of the hostages, as well as civilians in the Gaza Strip. Hamas rule in Gaza must end, he said, while calling for a ceasefire brokered by the US, Qatar, and Egypt.
Biden hailed the international forum and decried the position that, faced with mounting pressures, countries should withdraw from global cooperation in favor of solving issued on their own.
He quoted the 1919 poem "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats: "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."
Written at the end of World War I, he noted significant differences between then and now, despite the feeling that things are falling apart. In 2024 as opposed to 1919, he claimed, the center has held. Referring to the governments of the world, he extolled the leadership of governments around the world that brought humanity out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the worst pandemic in a hundred years.
He appealed to Russia to end its aggression against Ukraine and NATO, noting that under his leadership the alliance has ensured Ukraine continues to exist as a sovereign state.
Biden also addressed China in a bid to move past the rivalry between the US and Beijing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also due to speak to the assembly on Friday, despite postponing his trip several times amid the current escalation with Hezbollah.