Israel UN chief: Lebanon must not become another Gaza
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned of a catastrophe in the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. "A rash act - a miscalculation - could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border and, frankly, beyond imagination," Guterres warned in New York on Friday. The people in the region and around the world "cannot afford for Lebanon to become another Gaza", said the UN chief, referring to the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas allied with Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip, which has been going on for more than eight months. The danger of an expansion of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is "real" and must be avoided.
22.06.2024, 03:58
SDA
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and the Shiite militia in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. There have been casualties on both sides. The mutual shelling has already caused severe destruction in villages on both sides of the border. Around 150,000 people were evacuated or left the combat zone. The situation had recently deteriorated considerably. Guterres expressed his "deep concern" about the escalation of the conflict.
Hezbollah is considered to be much more powerful than Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel wants to use military and diplomatic pressure to ensure that the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia withdraws behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border - as stipulated by UN Resolution 1701. "The parties must urgently return to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and move immediately to a cessation of hostilities," Guterres demanded in New York.
