UN chief Antonio Guterres told CNN on Sunday, “What concerns me [is] the possibility of transforming Lebanon [into] another Gaza.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that Lebanon could transform into “another Gaza” following this week’s attacks on Hezbollah.
The Lebanese militant group and the Israeli military have exchanged fire for 11 months amid Israel’s war with Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, in Gaza. But tensions escalated this week following a series of attacks on Hezbollah targeting the militant group’s electronic devices.
Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets across northern Israel early Sunday as Israel bombarded Lebanon with hundreds of strikes. Hezbollah’s rocket hits come after Israel launched an airstrike in Beirut on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including a top leader of the militant group, Ibrahim Akil and several other fighters as well as women and children.
When asked about the recent electronic device attacks, Guterres told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in a pre-recorded interview, “There is a potential for a much stronger escalation. And that is what concerns me, the possibility of transforming Lebanon in[to] another Gaza, which I think would be a devastating tragedy for the world.”
Newsweek reached out to the UN, Israel’s foreign ministry, and Lebanon’s U.S. embassy via email for comment on Sunday afternoon.
