UN chief warns Mideast on brink of ‘full-scale conflict’
One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable - a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved.
Antonio Guterres
UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN Secretary-General Antonio 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 a ack on Israel could devolve into a ‘full-scale regional conflict’.
Guterres also said Israel’s military offensive on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for their unprecedented Oct 7 a ack, had created a ‘humanitarian hellscape’ for civilians trapped in the besieged Palestinian territory.
“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.”
“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 Hamasrun territory.
The militants’ a ack resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures.
Hamas also took about 250 hostages. Israel estimates 129 of them remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.
“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.