UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Lebanon is “on the brink of all-out war”, but there is still time to stop.
Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Guterres said the Middle East was “a powder keg with many parties competing”.
“I have warned for months about the dangers of the conflict spreading,” the UN chief said. He said the situation in the occupied West Bank was “boiling” and attacks in Lebanon threatened the entire region.
He said that in the past few days, firing across the Blue Line between Hezbollah and others in Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces has intensified, in complete disregard of Security Council resolutions 1701 and 1559, Xinhua news agency reported. Has been.
Guterres said more than 2,000 people have been killed last year in large-scale Israeli attacks in Lebanon, including in Beirut – and 1,500 in the past two weeks alone, and in attacks by Hezbollah and others south of the Blue Line. People have died. At least 49 people last year. Additionally, Lebanese officials report that more than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon, and 300,000 have fled to Syria, while more than 60,000 have been displaced from northern Israel.
He said, “We are on the brink of an all-out war in Lebanon, which will already have devastating consequences. But there is still time to stop.”
“The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected,” he stressed.
The Secretary-General commended the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, for continuing “to carry out its mandate to the fullest extent possible” and called on all actors to ensure their security.
Guterres said the past year “has been a year of crises – humanitarian crisis, political crisis, diplomatic crisis and moral crisis,” and “the nightmare in Gaza is now entering an atrocious, despicable second year.”
Last year, “Gaza has reached levels of human suffering that are difficult to fathom,” after Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, reportedly killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and There were thousands of others. Missing, he said.
“Virtually the entire population has been displaced – and no part of Gaza is left,” Guterres said. “No place in Gaza is safe and no one is safe.”
He underlined that international law is clear: “Civilians everywhere must be respected and protected, and their essential needs met, including humanitarian assistance,” and strongly condemned all violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
The UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and immediate life-saving assistance to all those who desperately need it, and for an irreversible two-state solution between Israel and Israel. Called for action. And Palestine.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
