UN: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday expressed grave concern over the dramatic escalation of events in the Lebanese capital Beirut over the past 24 hours. This comes after Israeli airstrikes on the city’s southern suburbs killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to media reports. The development comes amid escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah along the UN-guarded separation line in southern Lebanon known as the Blue Line against the backdrop of a nearly year-long war in Gaza. Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric issued a statement stressing that “this cycle of violence must now stop and all parties must step back from the brink.” “The Lebanese people, the people of Israel, as well as the wider region, cannot afford total war,” he said. Guterres called on the parties to recommit to the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and to immediately return to the cessation of hostilities. Resolution 1701 was adopted in August 2006 and aimed to end the war that broke out in Lebanon that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It called for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the creation of a demilitarized zone. The Secretary-General also reiterated his long-standing call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held in the enclave. The attacks in Beirut triggered a new wave of mass displacement. In response, the UN children’s agency UNICEF expanded the operation of shelters to support displaced families. Emergency supplies are being distributed to more than 5,000 people, UNICEF said in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Meanwhile, the number of people heading to Lebanon’s border with Syria is “growing rapidly”, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. The new arrivals, who include women, children and the elderly, “are exhausted after hours of traveling without food or water,” UNHCR said in a tweet. Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have driven thousands of people from their homes, including Palestinian refugees living in the country. Cross-border incidents have displaced 211,319 people since October 2023, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Teams from the UN agency that helps Palestine refugees, UNRWA, are responding, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a tweet on Saturday. UNRWA has opened seven emergency shelters across the country, currently hosting 1,600 people, including Lebanese citizens and Palestinian and Syrian refugees. “Many are traumatized by the continued bombardment, insecurity and fear,” Lazzarini said. “For some, it’s trauma relived given the repeated cycles of conflict over the decades.” He warned that further expansion of the war would only bring more suffering to civilians. Lazzarini concluded the tweet by emphasizing that civilians must be protected while civilian infrastructure must not be targeted.
