Guterres condemns ‘escalation after escalation’ in the Middle East

This article is published in association with United Nations.

With war ramping up across the Middle East on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for the violence to end now. 

“I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation,” he said in a tersely worded statement.

“This must stop.  We absolutely need a ceasefire.”  

Rising hostilities

Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, just hours after Israel launched what it called a “limited” ground incursion into southern Lebanon, according to media reports.

There were no immediate reports of any injuries on the ground in Israel and the Israeli military said around 180 missiles were fired, most of which were intercepted. 

The developments follow Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday, that targeted and killed the leader of the Hezbollah armed group Hassan Nasrallah. 

Last month, dozens were killed and thousands injured, in two consecutive days of electronic device explosions targeting Hezbollah members.

Simmering conflict

Cross-border attacks between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have increased in the context of the Gaza war, which is about to enter a second year.

Nearly 20 years ago, the two sides engaged in hostilities in Lebanon. In response, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution aimed at ending the 34-day conflict.

Resolution 1701 (2006) called for the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be given more robust rules of engagement and expanded to include up to 15,000 peacekeepers to support Lebanese forces as they deployed across the south of the country at the same time as Israel withdrew from the area.

Learn more about the resolution in our explainer.

Aftermath of Yemen attacks

Separately, the UN reported that Israeli air strikes against Yemen on Sunday did not cripple infrastructure at the critical port city of Hudaydah.

Israel carried out attacks on Hudaydah and the nearby port of Ras Issa after Houthi rebels in Yemen launched missiles and drones at the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Ashkelon.

Hudaydah is located on the Red Sea and plays a crucial role in ensuring humanitarian aid and fuel enter Yemen, where Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis have been fighting for a decade.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Houthis have been attacking merchant ships plying the Red Sea, thus putting pressure on global maritime trade and adding to the escalating regional tensions.

Ports still operating

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Julien Harneis, travelled to Hudaydah on Tuesday to assess the situation and ongoing efforts to provide food and nutrition as needs increase, especially along Yemen’s west coast.

“Our humanitarian partners also report that, after conducting an initial assessment, both ports remain operational and able to receive commercial and humanitarian supplies,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during his daily briefing from New York.

He added that power stations throughout Hudaydah city are, however, running at a very limited capacity, while the UN is distributing fuel to health facilities to keep their generators going.  

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon went to the stakeout at UN Headquarters on Tuesday afternoon to give a response to the Iranian missile attack earlier in the day: