UN chief warns Middle East crisis "getting out of control"

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that an “alarming disregard for international law” is driving a deepening crisis across the Middle East, with conflicts becoming increasingly complex and difficult to contain.

Speaking to the UN Security Council on July 23, Guterres said the region was facing “devastating consequences” as violations of international rules continued without accountability, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

“Today, conflicts are increasing in number, complexity, length and scope,” Guterres said, adding: “Impunity is spreading. Violations are going unanswered.”

Warning that the situation was approaching a dangerous point, he said: “The situation is getting out of control” and “It is teetering on the edge of the unimaginable.”

The UN chief called for the restoration of freedom of navigation in key maritime routes, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, amid rising regional tensions.

“International navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab must be fully restored,” he said, stressing that “Diplomacy is the only way forward.”

Addressing the situation in Gaza, Guterres said civilians continued to suffer despite a ceasefire, with deaths reported in residential areas as Israel expanded its control over the territory.

“Civilians continue to pay a heavy price,” he said, warning that people were being killed in their homes and communities “as Israel increases its control of Gaza.”

He added that humanitarian conditions remained critical, saying: “At the same time, living conditions remain intolerable, and horrific diseases are spreading, with humanitarian operations heavily impeded.”

Guterres also raised concerns over developments in the occupied West Bank, warning of “creeping annexation” amid escalating violence, Israeli military operations, settlement expansion and displacement.

“The region is being pulled into an ever-widening circle of confrontation,” he said, urging renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.

By Aghakazim Guliyev