Its general secretary UN Antonio Guterres warned today that an “all-out conflict” between Israel and Lebanon would be a “total disaster”, amid fears of a conflagration in the region.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in the Swiss Alpine resort, Guterres repeated his call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

Fighting has ravaged Gaza since Hamas’ unprecedented attacks on Israel on October 7. Since then, the Lebanon-Israel border has been the scene of an almost daily exchange of fire between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement, an ally of Hamas.

“The consequences that are already being recorded, the risk of a real confrontation in Lebanon, would be a total disaster. We must avoid it absolutely,” said Antonio Guterres.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have also attacked ships they believe are linked to Israel in the Red Sea in a show of solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians, since the war broke out on October 7.

The UN chief has again backed the idea of ​​a humanitarian truce to help avoid further chaos.

“What we are seeing in the Red Sea shows that this is not enough. It is very important to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza. It is very important to have a humanitarian ceasefire,” he said.

Guterres reiterated his call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. “I believe that today’s situation has shown that the two-state solution is an absolutely main way to solve this problem,” he said.