Earlier in the day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the General Assembly with an appeal to end the bloodshed in Syria, which he called a “regional calamity.” Ban also criticized Israel for ongoing settlement expansion in the Occupied Territories and its repeated threats of war against Iran.

Ban Ki-moon: “The continued growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory seriously undermines efforts toward peace. We must break this dangerous impasse. I also reject both the language of delegitimization and threats of potential military action by one state against another. Any such attacks would be devastating. The shrill war talk of recent weeks has been alarming and should remind us of the need for peaceful solutions and full respect of the United Nations Charter and international law.”