United Nations/Paris — Egypt’s foreign minister Sunday warned of the risk of an all-out regional war in light of intensified fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, saying the escalation “negatively impacted” a Gaza truce deal.
“There is great concern about… the possibility of an escalation in the region leading to an all-out regional war,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told AFP, adding that the latest spike in violence “negatively affects” ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, which Cairo is helping mediate.
Meanwhile, the world powers on Sunday implored Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement to refrain from escalating their conflict as the Gaza war threatened to spill over across the Middle East.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have traded regular cross-border fire since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel sparked the devastating war in Gaza.
But fears of an all-out regional war soared this week as both sides intensified the fighting, with Israeli strikes killing dozens in Lebanon, including top Hezbollah commanders.
UN chief Antonio Guterres told broadcaster CNN that he feared “the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza”.
The UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, warned on X that the Middle East was close to “an imminent catastrophe” and that no side would be safer through military means.
Guterres also said neither Israel nor Hamas were interested in achieving a ceasefire to end their devastating war in Gaza that has raged for almost a year.
“That is a tragedy because this is a war that must stop,” Guterres said.
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said escalating the conflict was not in key US ally Israel’s “best interest”.
The United States was saying this “directly to our Israeli counterparts” and believes “there can be time and space for a diplomatic solution here and that’s what we’re working on”, he told ABC.
The 27-nation bloc is “extremely concerned” about the escalating violence and is calling for an “urgent” ceasefire, its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
A full-blown war “must be averted, including by renewed intense diplomatic mediation efforts”, he added.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Israel and Hezbollah to reach an “immediate ceasefire” following a “worrying escalation”.
Addressing his Labour party’s annual conference, Lammy said a ceasefire would facilitate “a political settlement so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security”.
