Guterres warns of Gaza conflict ‘spiralling’; Blinken cautions Iran against intervention

Arul Louis

United Nations, Oct 24 (IANS) While UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that the Gaza war “risks spiralling throughout the region”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Iran that Washington will “swiftly and decisively” react if Americans are attacked by Tehran or its proxies.

Blinken said at the Security Council that “a firm, united message” should be sent “to any state or non-state actor that is considering opening another front in this conflict against Israel" or target its allies, including the US.

Guterres’ warning at the Council that “tensions threaten to boil over” were echoed by Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

Speaking outside the Council chamber, he said, "There's the threat of this expanding into the West Bank, into Lebanon, into other fronts."

“We're all doing everything we can to stop it," he said. 

Guterres had stern words for both Israel and Hamas, demanding that they uphold international humanitarian law.

“We must demand that all parties uphold and respect their obligations under international humanitarian law," he said.

They should “take constant care in the conduct of military operations to spare civilians; and respect and protect hospitals and respect the inviolability of UN facilities which today are sheltering more than 600,000 Palestinians”, he said.

He condemned both “the relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces”, and the use of civilians “as human shields” by Hamas.

Reiterating his condemnation of the 7/10 Hamas attack on Israel, he said, “Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets." 

“All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions," he said.

On the retaliation by Israel, he said, “The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the level of civilian casualties, and the wholesale destruction of neighbourhoods continue to mount and are deeply alarming."

He spoke of the 35 UN relief employees in Gaza killed in the bombings, saying: “I owe to their families my condemnation of these and many other similar killings." 

Guterres said that the Hamas attacks did not happen in a vacuum, saying: “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation."  

He said, “They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing." 

“But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he said. 

While Iran has not directly stepped into the Hamas-Israel conflict, two of its allies have. 

The Hezbollah organisation based in Lebanon has exchanged fire with Israeli forces in the north and the US Navy has intercepted rockets directed at Israel fired by the Houthis in Yemen.

Blinken, who is set to meet with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Washington on Thursday, said that he looked forward to working with him to prevent the conflict from spreading.

--IANS

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(Arul Louis can be contacted at [email protected] and followed at @arulouis)