UN warns Israel-Hezbollah escalation in violence threatens devastating conflict

A senior UN official has told the Security Council that further violence between Israel and the Iranian-linked groups Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon risks erupting into a much more serious conflict.

“We risk seeing a conflagration that could dwarf even the destruction and suffering we have witnessed so far,” Rosemary DiCarlo, the U.N.’s political affairs chief, told a 15-member council meeting Friday as it discussed attacks on Hezbollah this week.

“It is not too late to avoid such madness. There is still room for diplomacy,” she said. “I also strongly urge member states with influence over parties to use it now.”

As the war in Gaza approaches a year, Israel killed at least 14 people and wounded 66 in an airstrike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday.

The Israeli military said the dead included a senior Hezbollah commander and other key figures in the Lebanese resistance. The Israelis pledged to wage a new military campaign until the area around the Lebanese border was secured.

Hezbollah did not confirm the death of any commanders on Friday.

The Israeli airstrike followed two days of attacks in which Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, killing 37 people and wounding thousands. The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the Security Council that the attack on Hezbollah’s communications facilities violates international law and may constitute a war crime.

Turk said it was “difficult to imagine” how attacks on Hezbollah’s communication devices “can comply with the basic principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution in attack, as set out in international humanitarian law.”

He added that he was “terrified” by attacks using communication devices.

“This has caused widespread fear, panic and terror among the people of Lebanon, who have been suffering since October 2023 in an increasingly unstable situation and are crumbling under the impact of a severe and prolonged economic crisis. This cannot be the new normal,” he said.

Turk called for an independent, thorough and transparent investigation and for those who ordered and carried out the attacks to be held accountable.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the Council that the United States expects all parties to respect international humanitarian law and take all reasonable steps to minimize harm to civilians, especially in densely populated areas.

“It is imperative that all parties refrain from actions that could plunge the region into a devastating war, even as the facts emerge about the latest incidents – in which, I repeat, the United States played no role.”

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in October in support of Gaza, where Israel is fighting a devastating war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians.

Israel, which last fought an all-out war with Hezbollah 18 years ago, has said it will use force if necessary to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in northern Israel.