UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for all efforts to be made to prevent the outbreak of a full-scale conflict in Lebanon.
"What we are witnessing in Lebanon is only the beginning. This is a full-scale operation with massive bombings, evidently from [the Lebanese Shiite organization] Hezbollah as well," he said during a press conference at the annual ASEAN summit. "We are seeing a tragedy of immense proportions, and we must do everything to avoid a full-scale war in Lebanon."
Guterres highlighted that the death toll from the conflict in Lebanon has reached nearly 2,000, with around 170,000 Lebanese citizens fleeing to Syria, and the total number of displaced persons exceeding one million.
On September 23, Israel launched Operation "Northern Arrows" against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, carrying out massive strikes on the organization's military targets. The stated aim of the operation is to create secure conditions in northern border regions of Israel, allowing tens of thousands of residents to return. During one of the Israeli strikes on September 27 in Beirut, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed. On the night of October 1, the Israeli army announced a ground operation in southern border regions of Lebanon.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on TASS materials