Tor Wennesland wrote on X that he met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa after “intense exchanges” between the Israeli military – which said it had carried out large-scale pre-emptive strikes – and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, which said it had carried out an attack that is now “complete and complete.”
In a statement released later in the day by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply concerned about the “significant increase in the number of exchanges”.
“These actions endanger both the Lebanese and Israeli people and pose a threat to regional security and stability.“, his spokesman’s statement continued, calling for “immediate de-escalation.”
The United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and the Hamas militant group in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Hamas has reportedly agreed to send a delegation this weekend to be briefed on progress, without directly participating itself.
According to news reports, the current stumbling block in the negotiations is Israel’s insistence on a presence along the Egypt-Gaza border, known as the Philadelphia Corridor, and on the road that crosses the Gaza Strip.
Deal ‘crucial to saving civilian lives’
Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Wennesland said the ongoing talks in Cairo “are critical to saving civilian lives, reducing tensions and enabling the UN – in partnership with the Palestinian Authority – to accelerate efforts to address the urgent needs of Gaza’s long-suffering population.”
He added on X that “we need a ceasefire and the release of all hostages, now. There is no time to lose.”
Earlier a joint statement released online by the UN Special Coordinator Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIT) called on Israel and Hezbollah to “refrain from further escalatory actions” and called on all fighters in the region to cease hostilities.
“A return to the cessation of hostilities, followed by the implementation of UN Security Councilresolution 1701 is the only way forward”, UNIFIL tweeted.
Resolution 1701 of 2006 calls on Israel and Lebanon to support a ceasefire and a long-term peace settlement and “the need to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in the broader Middle East.
OCHA/Lebanon
Destruction in the village of Hebbariyeh in southern Lebanon was the result of hostilities across the Blue Line.
