‘We cannot see in Lebanon what we are seeing in Gaza’: UN Secretary-General
UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, delivers a press statement to media after a meeting of envoys from more than 20 countries on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, 02 May 2023. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concerns over increasing tensions between Israel and Lebanon, saying a confrontation similar to Gaza should not occur in Lebanon.
Guterres said at a news conference at the UN headquarters that it is important to avoid the bloodshed that is happening in Gaza to spread to Lebanon while highlighting the urgent need to end the war that has ravaged Gaza for the past 100 days.
He said the onslaught on Gaza by Israeli forces over 100 days has unleashed wholesale destruction and levels of civilian killings at a rate that is unprecedented since he became the Secretary-General.
Guterres said the UN and its partners cannot effectively deliver aid while Gaza is under such heavy and unrelenting bombardment by Israel.
The UN boss said further that tens of thousands of people in northern Israel and southern Lebanon have been displaced by the fighting and humanitarian access in Lebanon continues to be constrained.
Tensions have soared along Lebanon’s border with Israel since the Israeli army launched a lethal military incursion on the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack.
Cross-border fire has lately erupted between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the bloodiest fighting since the two sides went to war in 2006.
At least 24,100 people have been killed and more than 60,800 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the attacks stands at 1,139.
