'Can't afford Lebanon to be another Gaza': UN chief Antonio Guterres amid fears of Israel-Hezbollah War

Amid fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres has said that Lebanon must not become “another Gaza”.

In an apparent reference to the devastation from monthslong war in the Gaza Strip and the deaths and displacement of Palestinians in the region, Guterres said that the increased “bellicose rhetoric” from Israel and Lebanon posed the risk of triggering a catastrophe “beyond imagination”.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023, Lebanon-based and Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has clashed with Israel on a near-daily basis. In recent weeks, the fighting between the two sides has escalated as Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets into Israel that have set large swathes of territories in the country’s north ablaze. Israel has also assassinated senior figures of the group in Lebanon in airstrikes.

“Let’s be clear: The people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” said Guterres, as per AFP.

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For months, tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes in the country’s north amid fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. As the fighting has escalated in recent weeks, both Israel and Hezbollah have invoked the possibility of an all-out war.

“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 border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” said Guterres.

Hezbollah warns of war with no rules & red lines

Just a day before comments from Guterres, Hezbollah had warned Israel of waging a war with no rules and no red lines.

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Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based terrorist group which is backed by Iran. Along with the like of Gaza-based Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Yemen-based Houthis, Hezbollah is also part of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ sponsored by Iran. The group is rooted in the opposition to Israel and enmity with the United States.

“We won’t spare any of areas that we can reach, and we have a very, very large amount of data. Yesterday’s “Hoopoe” footage is just short and selected excerpts from long hours of recorded videos captured above Haifa…We have video recordings for long hours of Haifa and nearby areas as well as areas beyond Haifa and beyond Haifa. Or resistance fight based on information,” said Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in remarks carried by Al-Manar TV.

Nasrallah was referring to a nine-minute footage released this week that showed videos of Israel cities purportedly taken from drones. The release of the footage appeared to convey that Hezbollah could reach and strike deep into Israel-proper beyond the northern border areas.

In a speech on Wednesday, Nasrallah further said that Hezbollah is not afraid of a full-blown war. He added that the “Zionist entity” would be struck “in the land, sea and air”. Just like Hamas and their patron Iran, Hezbollah uses the term Zionist entity for Israel as they refuse to recognise the right of Israel to exist and are committed to its destruction.

“The enemy knows very well that no place will be safe from our missiles and drones. We have a real and large bank of goals and we are capable to reach these goals discriminately and in a way that destabilizes the entity….The enemy knows that what awaits it in the Mediterranean is terrific, the Israeli coasts and ships will be targeted,” said Nasrallah.