UN chief warns ME on brink of full-scale regional conflict

Unitednations:unsecretary-generalantonio Guterres on Thursday painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiraling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran’s atack on Israel could devolve into a “full-scale regional conflict.”

Guterres also said Israel’s military offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip had created a “humanitarian hellscape” for civilians trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory.

His speech came hours before a vote in the Security Council on a Palestinian bid for full UN membership — an initiative likely to fail, as the veto-wielding United States, Israel’s main ally, has voiced its opposition.

“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation — in words and deeds,” Guterres told a high-level Council meeting with several foreign ministers present, including from Jordan and Iran.

“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable — a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved,” he said, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint.”

“Let me be clear: the risks are spiraling on many fronts. We have a shared responsibility to address those risks and pull the region back from the precipice.”

Israel launched more deadly strikes on besieged Gaza on Thursday as Western governments unveiled sweeping sanctions against Iran’s military drone programme in response to the country’s unprecedented atack on Israel.

World powers have been watching nervously since Israel vowed to retaliate against Iran for the weekend assault, with fears soaring that escalating tit-for-tat atacks could push the region towards wider war.

Further stoking tensions, Iran warned on Thursday that if Israel struck Iranian atomic sites during its expected retaliation, Tehran would in turn target Israeli “nuclear facilities.”

Israeli officials have not said when or where they would retaliate, but the country’s military chief has vowed a response.

“It is high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation,” Guterres said. “It is high time to stop.”

Guterres again called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where at least 33,970 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

“In Gaza, six and a half months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hellscape,” Guterres lamented, calling on Israel to do more to allow aid to flow into the territory.

“Granting Palestine full membership at the United Nations will lit some of the historic injustice that succeeding Palestinian generations have been subjected to,” special Palestinian Authority envoy Ziad Abu Amr told the Council. “It will open wide prospects before a true peace based on justice.”

“I think a US veto is absolutely certain,” Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP, adding that he expected an abstention from Britain, and possibly Japan and South Korea.

Gaza’s civil defence said on Thursday it had recovered 11 more bodies in the southern city of Khan Yunis during the night.

Also bombed by Israel was the farsouthern city of Rafah, where Gaza rescue teams recovered the corpses of eight family members, including five children and two women, from a single house, the civil defence service said.

A separate strike hit Rafah overnight, killing at least 10 people, relatives and neighbours told AFP as they searched for the remains of victims. “All of a sudden, a missile hit them,” said neighbour Abdeljabbar Al Arja, who spoke of finding the arms and feet of women and children. “This is horrifying, it’s not normal,” he said. “The entire world is complicit.”

Talks toward a ceasefire have stalled, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, despite months of effort also involving US and Egyptian mediators.

Qatar is undertaking “a complete reevaluation of its role” as mediator because the country had been targeted by “point-scoring” by politicians, he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi atacked the United States for earlier blocking United Nations resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza ater a meeting with his counterpart in Indonesia.

The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers reiterated their countries’ calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza ater a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas.

“I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the UN.” Wang blamed the United States for holding up ceasefire resolutions at the UN.