UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by the most significant cross-border attacks carried out by Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement since the start of the war in Gaza.
Israeli warplanes struck dozens of sites in southern Lebanon on Sunday in what they said were pre-emptive strikes to prevent a much wider attack, and Hezbollah fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.
The UN boss cautioned that their actions put civilians at risk and threatened regional security and stability.
The United States has said it is working to avoid a further escalation of hostilities, and both sides have indicated they are not interested in such a situation.
There have been exchanges of fire almost every day on the Israeli-Lebanese border since the day after the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began on October 7.
Hezbollah said it is acting in support of the Palestinian group. The two groups are supported by Iran and are considered terrorist organizations by Israel, the United Kingdom and other countries.
Since October, more than 560 people have been killed, most of them Hezbollah fighters according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, while 26 civilians and 24 soldiers have been killed in Israel, according to authorities.
Close to 200,000 people were also displaced on both sides of the border.
The Israeli attack on Hezbollah began before dawn on Sunday, when the military said about 100 warplanes bombed thousands of missile launchers at more than 40 locations in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said the strikes were launched after the discovery of “extensive preparations” for a large-scale Hezbollah airstrike.
Hezbollah said two of its fighters were lost in the attacks, along with another fighter from the allied Amal movement.
Hezbollah said 11 military installations were targeted and hit in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights with 340 missiles and a “large number” of drones.
It said the barrage was in response to the assassination of senior military commander Fuad Shukr, killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on July 30.
The Israeli forces said it had intercepted “numerous threats” fired by Hezbollah and that the shells that landed caused “little damage.”
However, it also said a navy soldier had been killed in the fighting in northern Israel, with local media saying he was on a patrol boat when an interceptor missile engaged a drone.
On Sunday evening, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah addressed his supporters, who seemed to want an end to the escalation, in a televised broadcast.
He said the group’s “initial response” to the retaliation for Shukr’s killing had gone “as planned,” though he said its impact was still being evaluated.
“If the result is not sufficient, we will reserve the right to respond at another time,” he said.
In the meantime, he said further, the people of Lebanon “can be at ease and carry on with their lives, as the country has been in tension for a month now”.
Earlier, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, informed a cabinet meeting that “what happened today is not the end of the story”.
“We are striking Hezbollah with surprising crushing blows,” he said. “Three weeks ago, we eliminated its chief-of-staff and today we thwarted its attack plan.”
“Nasrallah in Beirut and [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei in Tehran need to know that this is an additional step in changing the situation in the north, and returning our residents securely to their homes.”
The UN secretary-general called for an “immediate de-escalation” and asked the parties to return urgently and immediately to the cessation of hostilities, a spokesman said.
White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan expressed hope that Sunday’s events would not lead to a regional war.
Source: BBC News
