Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Trip Announcement/Secretary-General
Islamophobia
Secretary-General/Lebanon
UN Interim Force in Lebanon
Middle East/Humanitarian
Conflict/Global Agrifood
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Sudan
South Sudan
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
Afghanistan/World Food Programme
Ukraine
Ethiopia/New Resident Coordinator
Jürgen Habermas
Guest Tomorrow
Financial Contribution

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT/SECRETARY-GENERAL

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will head to Belgium, to participate in an informal discussion with the members of the European Council. In addition to the discussion with the EU Council, the Secretary-General will have separate bilateral meetings with the President of the European Council, António Costa, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

Among the issues expected to be discussed at these various meetings are the state of the world, the state of international affairs, the relationship between the United Nations and the European Union, and the broader issue of multilateralism. 

While in Brussels, the Secretary-General will also have meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation of Belgium, Maxime Prévot, and he will have a separate meeting with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides.

ISLAMOPHOBIA

This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the high-level event marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, and he warned that we are facing a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry and hate. When discriminatory narratives are echoed by those in positions of authority, he said, prejudice becomes normalized.  And when stereotypes are left unchallenged, they harden into policy.

Governments have a clear responsibility, the Secretary-General said. Laws and policies must safeguard equality, not entrench prejudice. Online spaces should bring people together, not drive them apart.

He told the meeting that we must work together to eradicate the rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry, and build a world rooted in respect, inclusion, justice and peace.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/LEBANON

The Secretary-General returned from Lebanon yesterday, where he was on a two-day solidarity visit. In a press conference in Beirut on Saturday, he sent a clear message to the warring parties, calling on them to stop the fighting. “There is no military solution,” he said, “only diplomacy and the full implementation of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions,” adding that the diplomatic avenues remain available, including through his Special Coordinator [for Lebanon], Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and through key Member States.

Also on Saturday, the Secretary-General visited a reception centre for displaced people who fled the bombing, where he met with some of the families displaced from the south of the country, and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

He heard their testimonies about how some of them left their homes with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

The Secretary-General reassured them that the United Nations is doing everything possible to help the displaced people, including launching the humanitarian appeal on Friday, together with the Government of Lebanon, to provide support the people of Lebanon.

Also on Saturday, he visited Lance Corporal Albert Abrefa Busia, our injured UNIFIL peacekeeper. As you will recall, he was seriously injured and wounded in an attack on 6 March, and he is receiving medical care in a hospital in Beirut.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-03-16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSDTQuiTa0I

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-03-16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSDTQuiTa0I

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters in New York that the Lebanese government must “step up” and “step in” to “dismantle Hezbollah,” and said, “Lebanon must restrain Hezbollah now, or we will.”

Danon said Israel had expanded “the forward defence area” in southern Lebanon in order to “remove immediate terrorist threats near our border and create an additional layer of security for the residents of northern Israel.”

He said, “Israel did not choose this situation, Hezbollah did. For weeks, Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israeli communities from southern Lebanon.”

Pointing at a map, the Israeli Ambassador said, “look at how many launch sites are south of the Litani River. Everywhere you see the red dots. It’s in one evening.”

He stressed that under Security Council Resolution 1701, “Hezbollah is not supposed even to be there. Yet rockets are being fired from dozens of locations in exactly that area.”

Turning to Iran, Danon said, “the regime in Tehran is showing signs of weakness,” and asked “where is the new Supreme Leader? Where is he?”

He said the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “hasn’t appeared in public,” and “leaders and members of the security forces are defecting.”

Danon said, “while they hide, they continue to fire missiles from behind civilians, like the cowards that they are.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icZffHidgnE