'This Must Stop': UN Chief Condemns March to All-Out War in Middle East

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned Tuesday that "escalation after escalation" in the Middle East is pushing the region to the precipice of all-out war, a message that came after Israel invaded Lebanon and Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel.

"I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict," Guterres wrote on social media as news of the Iranian missile fire broke and Israel called up reservist brigades and other armed forces to take part in the ground assault on Lebanon.

"This must stop," Guterres added. "We absolutely need a cease-fire."

Hours earlier, Stéphane Dujarric—a spokesperson for Guterres—said the U.N. chief believes that "an all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected."

Other U.N. officials issued similarly urgent statements in the wake of Israel's U.S.-backed ground invasion of Lebanon, which followed weeks of bombing that killed more than a thousand people and displaced around a million.

Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said Tuesday that "we are gravely concerned by the widening hostilities in the Middle East and their potential to engulf the entire region in a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe."

"The prospects that the situation may deteriorate further with terrible impact on civilians, and that it could rapidly expand to embroil other states in the region, are real," Throssell added. "With armed violence between Israel and Hezbollah boiling over, the consequences for civilians have already been terrible—and we fear a large-scale ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon would only result in greater suffering."

"Turning a blind eye to the deteriorating catastrophe in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory will not help in finding a solution to the deteriorating situation in Lebanon."

Hours before Israel launched its invasion of Lebanon, a group of U.N. experts condemned Israel's "use of the same destructive violence that was applied in Gaza to its attacks on Lebanon" and said that "we should step back from the brink."

"The fundamental regional factors that feed the escalation of violence, including the supply of arms, technical assistance, and training to non-state actors, extrajudicial killings, and continuing illegal occupation of Palestine, must be central to the sustainable search for peaceful solutions,” the experts said. "Turning a blind eye to the deteriorating catastrophe in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory will not help in finding a solution to the deteriorating situation in Lebanon."

The statements from U.N. officials came shortly before Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, a move that Iran said was retaliation for Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh as well as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Abbas Nilforoushan.

Earlier Tuesday, an unnamed official from the Biden White House warned that "a direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran," heightening concerns of more direct U.S. involvement in the escalating regional conflict. The Pentagon announced Monday that it would send a few thousand additional troops to the Middle East—including "squadrons of F-15E, F-16, and F-22 fighter jets and A-10 attack aircraft, and the personnel needed to support them"—as Israel prepared to invade Lebanon.

Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, said Tuesday that the Biden administration "must realize that months of failure to impose meaningful consequences on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu for grave international humanitarian law violations and obstructing a cease-fire in Gaza has contributed to the disregard for U.S. and international concerns with which Israel has now acted in Lebanon."

"The ability of the United States to prevent an all-out war that could draw in the U.S. and Iran and imperil millions in the region, including American personnel, rests on whether President Biden is finally willing to take the steps necessary—including suspending offensive weapons deliveries—to prevent a horrific conflagration," Duss added.