Gaza war could spread to Lebanon, warns senior UN official – Firstpost

June 27, 2024

Days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the “intense phase” of the war was coming to an end, and while his defense minister was in Washington, Israeli shelling of Gaza appeared to be easing. Image courtesy of AP

As fighting raged in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the UN’s outgoing humanitarian director issued a “potentially apocalyptic” warning against the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading to Lebanon.

Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, where cross-border fighting has been taking place daily since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, is, as Martin Griffiths called it, “the hotspot of all hotspots.”

“This is unpredictable. It is potentially apocalyptic,” warned Griffiths, whose term as UN humanitarian coordinator ends this week.

A war involving Lebanon “would drag Syria into it… it would drag other countries into it as well,” he told the media in Geneva.

“It is very worrying.”

Germany urged its citizens living in Lebanon to leave the country on Wednesday, echoing a warning issued by Canada the day before.

“German citizens are urgently requested to leave Lebanon,” says the updated statement from the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.

“The currently heightened tensions in the border area with Israel could escalate further at any time.”

The Berlin Foreign Ministry reiterated its warning, saying: “German citizens are urgently requested to leave Lebanon.”

“The currently heightened tensions in the border area with Israel could escalate further at any time.”

Ottawa urged Canadians on Tuesday to leave Lebanon “while they can.”

Amid fears of a wider war, witnesses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah described fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian terrorists, UN spokesman Griffiths said.

As the conflict has now gone on for ten months, the United States, Israel’s strongest ally, has warned of a possible major battle with Hezbollah, citing an increased threat from months of cross-border shootings.

But just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the “intense phase” of the war was coming to an end and his defense minister was in Washington, Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip appeared to be easing.

“Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily develop into a regional war with terrible consequences for the Middle East,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant.

“Diplomacy is by far the best way to prevent further escalation,” Austin said.

Gallant, for his part, said: “We only fight those who want to harm us.”

He also said that “significant progress” had been made in addressing Israeli concerns about the supply of American weapons.

Netanyahu openly accused the administration of US President Joe Biden of delaying the delivery of weapons, an accusation that Washington officials have consistently denied.

While the prime minister and other senior Israeli officials expressed openness to a diplomatic solution to border tensions with Lebanon, Gallant said Israel must be prepared for “every possible scenario.”

After Israel’s military said last week that plans for an operation in Lebanon had been “approved and confirmed,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issued new threats.

Witnesses in Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, reported fighting during the night, and the Israeli military claimed planes hit a missile launch site.