STORY: :: ‘Lebanon cannot become another Gaza,’ the U.N.’s chief

says as tensions rise between Israel and Hezbollah

:: June 21, 2024

:: Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

“I felt compelled today to voice my profound concerns about escalation between Israel and Hezbollah along the blue line. Escalation and continue the exchanges of fires and the escalation in bellicose rhetoric from both sides, as if an all-out was imminent. The risk for the conflict in the Middle East to widen is real and must be avoided. One rash move, one miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the borders and frankly, beyond imagination. Let’s be clear, the people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”

Guterres told reporters on Friday that the parties must immediately return to a cessation of hostilities.

A U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL, as well as unarmed technical observers known as UNTSO, have long been stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line.