UN chief says Gaza war threatens to drag region into 'abyss' following Israeli strike on Lebanon

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu tells UNGA his country will continue 'degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met'

Beirut's southern suburbs under attack by Israel. Reuters

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The UN chief on Friday warned that shock waves from the Gaza war threatened to drag the Middle East into an “abyss”, following a major strike on Beirut that Israel said had targeted Hezbollah's central command.

“War in Lebanon could lead to further escalation involving outside powers,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council.

Mr Guterres also voiced support for a joint US-French plan for a ceasefire in Lebanon that allows “for the delivery of humanitarian relief and paving the way for the resumption of serious negotiations for a durable peace”.

The Security Council had convened on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly a few hours after Israel launched the strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut in a series of explosions that targeted the leader of the militant group and flattened high-rise apartment blocks.

Foreign ministers from Palestine, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey who also addressed the Security Council, condemned Israel's military actions in Lebanon and Gaza.

Palestine’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Mustafa asked how long the UN Security Council would wait to pass a resolution to restrain Israel.

“They are acting as a rogue state because they are convinced that they are above the law and they are entitled to things that other countries are not entitled to. So, how would they not repeat the same aggression in Lebanon if they were not held accountable for their crimes in Palestine and were not forced to comply with the ceasefire in Gaza?” asked Mr Mustafa.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the US for its complicity in Israel's strikes on Lebanon, citing its continued military support for Israel.

“Just this morning, Israeli regime used several 5,000-pound bunker busters that had been gifted to them by the United States to hit residential areas in Beirut,” he told the Security Council.

Mr Araghchi added that Iran would be on the “side of Lebanon and resistance, by all means”.

US officials have said Washington had not been involved in the strikes and had not been informed ahead of time.

Rescue teams search for survivors after Israeli airstrikes rock Beirut

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The US and France, along with other allies, tried to broker a 21-day ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, but Israel has remained determined in the face of international outcry and pressure.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington's representative to the UN, said all-out war is not inevitable and called on the council to support the ceasefire proposal that France and the US put forward earlier this week.

“A 21-day ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel … would provide space for a diplomatic solution, consistent with Resolution 1701, that pulls Hezbollah’s forces back from the border and allows people to safely return to their homes in both countries,” she said.

Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon said the government is pushing for certain terms in any deal. “If we can achieve the goals of the war through diplomacy, we prefer that,” he said outside the UN Security Council.

“And the goals are to allow the citizens of Israel, 70,000 refugees to move back to their homes. And to push Hezbollah from the southern Lebanon area.”

Smoke rises from Israeli air strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon. AP

Mr Danon said Israeli forces had carried out a “precise attack on Hezbollah's central headquarters”, telling reporters he could not give any details or whether the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target.

In his UN speech at the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up operations against Hezbollah until tens of thousands of Israeli citizens displaced by rocket attacks can return home.

“We’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met,” he said, right before reports of the Beirut strike emerged. “I’ve come here today to say enough is enough.”

He cut short his brief visit to New York, cancelling meetings with senior US officials.