The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, expresses great concern about the escalation in the Middle East.
This is what a spokesperson for the Secretary General says on Monday, according to the news agency dpa.
– The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the escalating situation along the blue line and the large numbers of civilian casualties, including women and children, that the Lebanese authorities are reporting, says the spokesperson.
The blue line refers to the border between Lebanon and Israel as well as the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have cost at least 356 people their lives, Lebanese authorities said on Monday evening.
Guterres is also horrified by the “thousands of displaced people amid the most intense Israeli bombings since last October”.
– The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the continued Hezbollah attacks into Israel. He expresses deep concern for the safety of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line, including UN staff, and he condemns in the strongest possible terms the loss of life, the spokesperson said.
Israel has significantly stepped up its attacks on Hezbollah since last week, when explosions in electronic equipment also caused panic in Lebanon.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the explosions.
Tensions between Israel and Lebanon go back a long way.
But it has escalated since Israel launched extensive attacks on the Gaza Strip from the ground and the air almost a year ago.
Since then, the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which supports Hamas, has sent rockets at Israel, but Israel has attacked the other way, and there have been almost daily skirmishes without actual war.
But several have expressed fear that the situation could escalate further.
The escalation in the Middle East coincides with world leaders beginning the general debate at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Both the war in the Middle East and the Ukraine are expected to take up a lot of space here.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
