The UN Secretary-General António Guterres is warning of "warlike rhetoric" from Israel and the Iran-backed Shia militia Hizbollah.
To speak plainly: The people in the region and people all over the world cannot afford for Lebanon to become a new Gaza, he says.
António Guterres is concerned about an expanded conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hizbollah. After threats of all-out war from both parties, he says at a press conference that the warring parties risk causing a catastrophe "beyond our imagination".
The risk of the conflict in the Middle East expanding is real and must be avoided, he says.
A hasty move, a miscalculation, can trigger a catastrophe that reaches far beyond the border conflict.
Hizbollah and Israel's military have been firing at each other almost daily since 7 October last year.
This week, tensions escalated when Hizbollah published film clips allegedly showing, among other things, how drones had photographed military infrastructure in Israel. Shortly after, the Israeli military announced that an operational plan for an offensive in Lebanon had been approved.
"In an all-out war, Hizbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely affected", said Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a statement.
Which Hizbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah responded to in a speech:
Let the enemy know once again that if an all-out war is declared against Lebanon, we will fight it without restrictions.
