From the heart of Beirut, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a fervent appeal Friday for Israel and Hezbollah to lay down arms. Meeting President Joseph Aoun, he pushed for reinstating Lebanon’s sovereignty, decrying the war’s unwanted grip on the country.
As a steadfast ally, Guterres called for national unity. ‘This war was not what the Lebanese people desired,’ he remarked. He optimistically foresaw his return to a tranquil Lebanon, where only the government wields military power and borders are inviolable.
Dismissing militias, Guterres asserted, ‘Armed groups belong to the past; robust states define the future.’ Aoun reported over 800,000 displaced, urging cessation of Israeli attacks, UN gratitude, and amplified international help.
Crisis ripples through commerce: 50% trade production drop, 60-80% non-essential sales decline. Industrial halts and export barriers slashed manufacturing 50%, farming 40%. Tourism devastation includes 10-15% hotel bookings, 90% restaurant slump, 80% travel agency losses.
Mohammad Shukair of the Beirut Chamber warned of impending business extinctions and unemployment waves if fighting persists, intensifying woes. Flashpoint: post-February 28 U.S.-Israel Iran strikes, Hezbollah’s northern Israel barrages, Israel’s Lebanon responses.
With WHO tallying 634 deaths and 1,586 injuries, Guterres’ ceasefire push underscores the peril, calling for urgent global intervention to safeguard Lebanon’s fragile recovery.