The Summit of the Future Outcome Document endorsed a few hours ago, will deepen cooperation to address the challenges and loopholes in the governance and renew commitment to launching a multilateral system that could keep abreast with the new developments, His Highness said. His Highness the Crown Prince appreciated the UN Secretary General’s call in 2021 to convene the Summit of the Future and lay the groundwork for more effective international cooperation. “We have seen the mounting challenges facing the developing and least-developed countries, including the trans-border challenges related to development and the accelerating climate change. “These challenges highlight the need of effective application of the principle of fair geographical representation at the UN and doing away with discrimination and politicization,” His Highness the Crown Prince stressed. His Highness the Crown Prince shared the Secretary-General’s view that it was impossible to build a future for our grandchildren through a system built for our ancestors.

“This is a regrettable stark example of using double standards in the implementation of the international law, which should have no room in our future, otherwise the world order could degenerate into jungle law,” he cautioned.

In the fifth chapter of the pact, “Transforming Global Governance,” His Highness the Crown Prince urged the international community to step up the efforts to reform the international order in a way that could reflect the current reality and challenges, and lead to a more effective more inclusive, and more transparent UN Security Council. “Since its independence in 1961, the State of Kuwait has been keen on promoting development in the developing and least developed countries through Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development,” he said, noting that KFAED offered up to 1,073 grants and soft loans to 105 countries. His Highness the Crown Prince added that Kuwait has made tangible successes in the implementation of the national development plan and Kuwait Vision 2035, and the realization of the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including those related to the eradication of poverty and hunger, and provision of quality education for all.

Representative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah called Sunday, on the international community to recommit themselves to the principles of international peace and security, and the provisions of the international laws and conventions, and to deal with each other on equal terms, and do away with double standards. His Highness the Crown Prince made his remarks during a speech on the Summit of the Future at the UN HQ in New York. “The ongoing genocide in Palestine, which claimed more than 41,000 lives so far, mainly women and children, is a stark reminder of the inability of the UN Security Council to halt the aggression. “This is a regrettable stark example of using double standards in the implementation of the international law, which should have no room in our future, otherwise the world order could degenerate into jungle law,” he cautioned.

The Israeli occupation forces destroyed hospitals, schools, residential areas, and refugee camps since the start of the aggression. The death toll from the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7th has risen to 41,431 Palestinians killed and 95,818 wounded. Elsewhere, Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati stated on Monday that Lebanon was currently facing a war of extermination that aims to exterminate and destroy Lebanese villages and towns by the Israeli occupation, said Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). Mikati added that the government was working to halt the ongoing Israeli aggression and was doing everything possible to avoid further escalation in the region. The Prime Minister also called on the UN, the UNSC, and the world powers to stand with justice and deter the Israeli occupation’s aggression, and reaffirmed Lebanon’s full commitment to UN Resolution 1701. Mikati also pointed to the UN Secretary General’s warning regarding the risk of southern Lebanon becoming “another Gaza,” stressing that this concern should serve as a wake-up call, and urged the international community to pressure Israeli occupation forces into ceasing their attacks and complying with UN Security Council Resolution 2735. He reaffirmed Lebanon’s support for resolving the Palestinian issue through the two-state solution, advocating for a just and comprehensive peace.

Israeli strikes killed more than 270 Lebanese Monday in the deadliest and most intense barrage in nearly a year as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate their homes ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah. Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. More than 400 other people were injured in the strikes. The Israeli military announced that it hit some 300 targets Monday, saying it was going after Hezbollah weapons sites. Some strikes hit in residential areas of towns in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. One strike hit a wooded area as far away as Byblos in central Lebanon, more than 80 miles from the border north of Beirut.

The military said it was expanding the airstrikes to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border. Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the Bekaa Valley, which runs along the Lebanese-Syrian border, and it is where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said residents of the valley must immediately evacuate areas where Hezbollah is storing weapons. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli military post in Galilee. It also targeted for a second day the facilities of the Rafael defense firm, headquartered in Haifa. As Israel carried out the attacks, Israeli authorities reported a series of air-raid sirens in northern Israel warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.

Earlier Monday, Israel issued a broad warning urging residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate from homes and other buildings where it claimed Hezbollah has stored weapons. It was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of steadily escalating conflict and came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire on Sunday. Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles, and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. There was no sign of an immediate exodus from the villages of southern Lebanon, and the warning left open the possibility that some residents could live in or near targeted structures without knowing that they are risk. The increasing strikes and counterstrikes have raised fears of an all-out war, even as Israel is still battling Hamas in Gaza and trying to return scores of hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group. Israel says it is committed to returning calm to its northern border.

Associated Press journalists in southern Lebanon reported heavy airstrikes targeting many areas Monday morning, including some far from the border. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strikes hit a forested area in the central province of Byblos, about 130 kilometers (81 miles) north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, for the first time since the exchanges began in October. No injuries were reported there. Israel also bombed targets in the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions, where a shepherd was killed and two family members were wounded, according to the news agency. It said a total of 30 people were wounded in strikes.

The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at 270. It asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to postpone surgeries that could be done later. The ministry said in a statement that its request aimed to keep hospitals ready to deal with people wounded by “Israel’s expanding aggression on Lebanon.” An Israeli military official said Israel is focused on aerial operations and has no immediate plans for a ground operation. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with regulations, said the strikes are aimed at curbing Hezbollah’s ability to launch more strikes into Israel. Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms until further notice.