The United Nations secretary-general says the Lebanese people have been “dragged into” war, and has called for an end to the fighting, as Israel keeps up its assault on several areas of the country.“The south [of Lebanon] risks becoming a wasteland. Southern Beirut, which is under sweeping evacuation orders by Israel, risks being bombed to oblivion,” Antonio Guterres said at a news conference in Beirut on Saturday. “There is no military solution, only diplomacy.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listGuterres is visiting the country to launch a flash appeal for $325m to support the 800,000 plus people who have been internally displaced since Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the US-Israeli killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Asked by Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith whether Israel’s forcible evacuation orders, now covering 14 percent of the country, were “consistent with international humanitarian law”, Guterres said: “Whatever does not create enough security for civilians inevitably becomes in violation of international humanitarian law.”The Israeli army has issued sweeping evacuation orders to residents of south Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs as it hammered the areas, killing a family of four in the southern city of Sidon and one person in an attack on a residential building in Bourj Hammoud, located east of Beirut, on Saturday.Guterres said that a UN special coordinator was engaging with “all actors around the clock to bring the parties to the table” and that peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force “remain in position”, warning that attacks on the latter were “completely unacceptable”.Talks with IsraelThe UN chief’s visit came as high-level Lebanese consultations took place to form a negotiating delegation for talks with Israel. Advertisement An official source told Al Jazeera Arabic that a delegation is expected to be formed at ambassadorial level in preparation for any possible negotiations, with the likely venue being Cyprus, although Lebanon was said to be open to any European capital.The source said the Lebanese presid …
