A recent surge in cross-border deadly attacks risks escalating violence across the Middle East and requires immediate de-escalation efforts, top UN officials warned the Security Council on Monday.
“One rash move, one miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the borders and, frankly, beyond imagination,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, in a briefing via videoconference.
The meeting, called by France, United Kingdom and the United States, came on the heels of a Houthi drone attack against Tel Aviv, Israel, on 19 July, which left one dead and 10 others injured. On 20 July, Israel deployed airstrikes on the Hudaydah Port in Yemen, killing at least six people, injuring 80 others and leaving widespread damage of civilian infrastructure.
These attacks and other recent strikes “risk a further regional conflagration”, she said, pointing to intensified Israeli military operations across Gaza, clashes across the Blue Line between Israel and Hezbollah as well as Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) attacks on Syria, discussed by Council members earlier on Monday, she said.
“These latest developments show the real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation,” she stressed.
