Middle East at 'most dangerous juncture' in decades, warns UN official

The UN's special coordinator for Middle East peace warned Tuesday that the region was at its "most dangerous juncture" in decades, as the war between Israel and Iran-backed groups risked spiraling into a broader conflict.

"We have now entered the second year of this horrific conflict, and the region is on the verge of yet another serious escalation," Tor Wennesland told the Security Council.

His remarks come just days after Israel carried out air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 missile attack, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

"Every effort -- by all of us -- must be made to de-escalate the situation and establish a different trajectory toward greater peace and stability in the region," he said.

Over a year after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel prompted the devastating war in Gaza, which has now extended to Lebanon, deadly violence "shows no signs of abating," Wennesland said.

"We are witnessing not only a horrific humanitarian nightmare but a rapidly accelerated unraveling of the prospects for a sustainable resolution to this conflict."

He said that he had visited Gaza last week, where he saw "the sheer magnitude of the devastation this war has inflicted on the population."

"I saw the immense destruction -- of residential buildings, roads, hospitals, and schools. I saw thousands living in makeshift tents, with nowhere else to go as winter approaches."

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 43,020 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable, triggering warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

During the October 7 attack, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, including soldiers and civilians, of whom 97 are still in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of them are dead.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

In Lebanon, according to an AFP tally based on official figures, at least 1,700 people have been killed since September 23, when the fighting escalated as Israel launched an air and ground offensive against Hezbollah, which had been carrying out rocket attacks in support of Hamas.