UN aid chief warns of 'potentially apocalyptic' consequences if war spreads to Lebanon

The UN humanitarian chief voiced alarm Wednesday at the prospect of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza spreading to Lebanon, warning that it was "potentially apocalyptic".

As the war in Gaza nears its tenth month, Israel's top ally the United States has warned of the risk of a major conflict against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, following an escalation in cross-border fire.

Israel's military said last week plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated", prompting fresh threats from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian coordinator, told reporters in Geneva that he saw Lebanon as "the flashpoint beyond all flashpoints", pointing to southern Lebanon in particular.

Griffiths said he had been discussing with colleagues in Jerusalem about the prospects of what might happen there.

"We are worried about the potential for further tragedy and deaths," he said.

"It's potentially apocalyptic."

Griffiths, whose term finishes this week, warned that a war involving Lebanon "will draw in Syria... it will draw in others".

And "it will of course have an impact on Gaza; of course it will have an impact on the West Bank.

"It's very alarming," he said.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said three contractors returning home from the peacekeepers' base in the south Lebanon village of Shamaa "had their vehicle hit by gunfire", reporting "no serious injuries".

The UN's peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix condemned the incident, saying there was escalation on the border.

"Certainly we condemn the attacks against those contractors in the same way as we condemn attacks against civilians (and) certainly attacks against our peacekeepers as well," Lacroix said at a briefing at UN headquarters in New York.

"What we've seen over... the last week is, if not a full-fledged sort of escalation, but certainly an increase, a gradual increase, in the intensity of these exchanges of fire."

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war started with Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 42 are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,718 people, also mostly civilians, Gaza's health ministry has said.

Since the war began, "Gaza has taught us a new level of tragedy and cruelty", Griffiths said.

"But we are all worried that it may only be the beginning."

He said the UN humanitarian agency OCHA and other aid agencies were preparing for a broader crisis.

"There is a lot of preparedness on the aid side," he said. But the kind of preparedness needed was "political", he stressed.

"The problem is stopping this war from getting worse."