UN chief Guterres backs Lebanon ceasefire plan

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres endorsed Friday a joint U.S.-French plan for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon as he warned that shockwaves from Israel's Gaza war threatened to drag the region into an "abyss."

"I fully support the proposal for a temporary ceasefire -- allowing for the delivery of humanitarian relief and paving the way for the resumption of serious negotiations for a durable peace," Secretary-General Guterres told the United Nations Security Council.

"Shockwaves radiating from the unprecedented death and destruction in Gaza now threaten to push the entire region into the abyss."

AFP