UN says more violence “cannot be allowed” following Israel’s announcement of attack plan in Lebanon

June 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq, assured this Wednesday that more violence “cannot be allowed”, in reference to the Israeli Army’s announcement of the approval of an attack plan against Lebanon, coinciding with the escalation. on the northern border with the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, within the framework of the clashes following the attacks perpetrated on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) against Israeli territory.

“The Secretary General (António Guterres) has repeatedly spoken out against any escalation of the conflict along the Blue Line. (…) He has already warned of what has happened in Gaza, and we cannot allow it to happen similar type of violence in other places,” Haq said during a press conference.

In addition, he has assured that the UN special coordinator in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and General Aroldo Lázaro, head of the United Nations Interim Force in this country (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lázaro, are working with both parties to reduce tensions “as much as possible”.

Faced with a possible start of the conflict, Haq did not want to “speculate” about the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and recalled that the UN troops present in war zones have submitted to the Council of Security to assign “the appropriate mandate of the mission.”

The Israeli Army and Hezbollah – backed by Iran and which has significant political weight in Lebanon – have been engaged in a series of clashes since October 8, a day after the attacks carried out by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Tensions have been rising in recent weeks and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently warned that the Israeli Army “is prepared for very powerful action” on the border with Lebanon. In response, Hezbollah’s number two, Naim Qassem, warned last week that an expansion of the conflict would lead to “devastation and destruction” in Israel.