Israel and Hezbollah urged to avoid ‘catastrophe’

A rocket from Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system is fired to intercept rockets fired from Lebanon on September 22 – Copyright AFP Bryan R. SMITH

World powers on Sunday implored Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement to refrain from escalating their conflict as the Gaza war threatened to spill over across the Middle East.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have traded regular cross-border fire since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel sparked the devastating war in Gaza.

But fears of an all-out regional conflagration soared this week as both sides intensified the fighting, with Israeli strikes killing dozens in Lebanon, including top Hezbollah commanders.

– United Nations –

UN chief Antonio Guterres told broadcaster CNN he feared “the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza”.

The UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, warned on X that the region was “on the brink of an imminent catastrophe” and that no military solution would make either side safe.

Guterres also said neither Israel nor Hamas were interested in achieving a ceasefire to end the brutal war in Gaza that has raged for almost a year.

“That is a tragedy, because this is a war that must stop,” he added.

– United States –

President Joe Biden said the United States was “pushing hard” and would do “everything we can” to prevent a wider regional war.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said escalating the conflict was not in key US ally Israel’s “best interest”.

Washington was saying this “directly to our Israeli counterparts” and believes “there can be time and space for a diplomatic solution”, he told ABC.

– Egypt –

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told AFP there was “great concern about… the possibility of an escalation in the region” leading to all-out war.

The latest surge in violence “negatively affects” the Gaza ceasefire talks Egypt has been mediating for months with Qatar and the United states, he added.

– European Union –

The 27-nation bloc is “extremely concerned” about the escalating violence and is calling for an “urgent” ceasefire, its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

A full-blown war “must be averted, including by renewed intense diplomatic mediation efforts”, he added.

– Britain –

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Israel and Hezbollah to reach an “immediate ceasefire” following a “worrying escalation”.

Addressing his Labour party’s annual conference, Lammy said a ceasefire would facilitate “a political settlement, so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security”.

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