Volker Turk believes it is essential to avoid a conflagration of conflict, which could have repercussions on the region and beyond.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said the war in Gaza is a “tinderbox” that could trigger a wider conflict with serious repercussions in the Middle East and beyond.
In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Turk said he was deeply concerned that the war – now in its 150th day – has already generated dangerous fallout in neighboring countries.
“Any spark could lead to a much larger conflagration,” Turk warned. “This would have implications for all countries in the Middle East, and many beyond. »
The UN high commissioner for human rights said it was “imperative to do everything possible to avoid” a broader escalation and specifically cited the military escalation between Israel, Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon, calling them “extremely worrying”.
Since October 8, cross-border exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, a direct result of the war in Gaza, have killed dozens of people, displaced tens of thousands and destroyed vital infrastructure.
In the most recent of these near-daily attacks, Israel reportedly struck three towns in southern Lebanon within 24 hours, apparently in response to a Hezbollah attack on a community in northern Israel that killed at least one person and left many injured several others.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks since October 7, when Hamas carried out attacks in Israel that killed 1,139 people.
Since November, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have also targeted ships sailing in the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden, which they claim to be affiliated with Israel, and which they carry out in protest against the war against Gaza.
The attacks have disrupted international trade on the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, and the United Kingdom have carried out retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Turk said the Houthi attacks had not only disrupted global maritime trade, but also pushed up the price of goods, which had a significant impact on developing countries.
“There is a serious risk that the conflict will spread to Yemen itself, with potentially serious consequences for the Yemeni population, who are already suffering from the humanitarian crisis generated by a decade of war,” he said.