The UN human rights chief told the UN Security Council that Israeli attacks on Hezbollah equipment were a violation of international law and may constitute war crimes.
More violence between Israel and Iran-backed groups – Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon – risks sparking a far more damaging conflict, a senior United Nations official has told the Security Council.
“We risk a conflagration that will dwarf the devastation and suffering we have seen so far,” UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the 15-member council on Friday, as the council met this week to discuss attacks blamed on Hezbollah.
“It is not too late to avoid such folly. There is still room for diplomacy,” he said. “I also strongly urge Member States with influence over the parties to take advantage of this now.”
Israel killed at least 14 people and wounded 66 in air strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday, close to the one-year anniversary of the war in Gaza.
The Israeli military claimed the dead included a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement, and vowed to launch a new military operation until the area around the Lebanese border was secured.
Hezbollah did not confirm the death of any commander on Friday.
Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies had exploded for two days before the Israeli airstrikes that killed 37 people and injured thousands. Israel is believed to have carried out the attacks, but it has neither confirmed nor denied this.
On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the Security Council that attacks on Hezbollah’s communications equipment were a violation of international law and may constitute war crimes.
Turk said it was “hard to understand” how attacks on Hezbollah’s communications equipment “could be consistent with the key principles of discrimination, proportionality and precaution in attack under international humanitarian law”.
He said he was “shocked” by the attacks carried out using communications equipment.
“This has caused widespread fear, panic and terror among the Lebanese people, who are already struggling with an increasingly unstable situation since October 2023 and a severe and long-running economic crisis. This cannot be the new normal,” he said.
Turks called for an independent, thorough and transparent investigation and for those who ordered and carried out the attacks to be held accountable.
US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood told the Council that the United States expects all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and take all appropriate steps to minimize harm to civilians, particularly in densely populated areas.
“It is essential that, despite the facts that have emerged regarding the latest events – in which I reiterate that the United States had no role – all parties avoid any actions that could push the region into a devastating war.”
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in October in support of Gaza. Israel is fighting a devastating war in Gaza that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians.
Israel, which last fought a war against Hezbollah 18 years ago, has said it will use force if necessary to ensure the return of its citizens to their homes in northern Israel.
