Not long after several nations issued travel warnings to their citizens regarding growing Middle Eastern tensions, a senior United Nations (UN) official has warned that the cross-border attacks as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel exchanged rocket strikes has led to rising Middle East tensions.
“We risk seeing a conflagration that could dwarf even the devastation and suffering witnessed so far,” UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the 15-member council on Friday, which met about attacks this week on Hezbollah.
“It is not too late to avoid such folly,” she continued. “There is still room for diplomacy. I also strongly urge member states with influence over the parties to leverage it now.”
As the war is almost a year old, Israel killed an additional 14 people and wounded 66 in an air raid on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday. Of this raid, five children were among the casualties on a building in Jamous Street, and of the same 66, health authorities said at least nine of the wounded were in a critical condition.
On the same Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the Security Council that the attack on Hezbollah communications devices violated international law and could constitute a war crime.
Turk said it was “difficult to conceive” how the attacks on Hezbollah’s communications devices “could possibly conform with the key principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack, under international humanitarian law.”
He added that he was “appalled” by the attacks using communication devices.
“This has unleashed widespread fear, panic and horror among people in Lebanon, already suffering in an increasingly volatile situation since October 2023 and crumbling under a severe and long-standing economic crisis. This cannot be the new normal,” he said.
Turk further called for an independent, thorough and transparent investigation and for those who ordered and carried out the attacks to be held to account.
How Did This Begin?
The recent escalation began with intensified exchanges of fire, leading to hundreds of casualties, particularly in Lebanon. Over 500 people have died since the outbreak of this hostility, with more than 100 civilians among the dead in Lebanon. In northern Israel, 26 civilians and 23 soldiers have been killed due to rocket strikes from Lebanese territory. Also, the violence has displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the Blue Line.
In a 17 September statement, Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert deplored the attack that had taken place that day, noting that it marked an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context”. During an 18 September press conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that “this event confirms that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that escalation.”
Looking Ahead
The UN warns Israel and Hezbollah amid rising tensions and cross-border attacks.
International diplomatic efforts are underway to find a common ground for both Israel and Hezbollah. Also, representatives from the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt have been engaged in trying to bring both sides to the negotiating table.
While achieving a ceasefire given the hatred and historical background that lay foundation for the Israel-Hezbollah relationship will be a feat, without international efforts to mediate the conflict, the violence could spiral further out of control, and cause damage to the entire Middle East.