A map showing North Africa and the Middle East Credit : Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin
Already rattled by a spate of conflicts, the Middle East faces the threat another war amid escalation of war of words and reported exchange of fire between Iran and Israel on the Syrian battlefield.
The latest hostility comes on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s abandoning the Iran nuclear deal with a vow to reimpose sanctions against Tehran.
In New York , the United Nations, chief is urging an immediate halt to all hostile acts and provocative actions to “avoid a new conflagration” in the Middle East.
Israel says it attacked Iranian military installations in neighboring Syria in retaliation for an Iranian-instigated rocket barrage on Israeli positions in the Golan.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres “followed, with utmost concern, reports overnight of missile launches from Syria targeting Israeli positions and retaliatory strikes by the Israel Defense Forces,” said his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, in a statement issued on Thursday.
Guterres “notes, with relief, today’s partial normalization of the situation,” and “urges for an immediate halt to all hostile acts and any provocative actions to avoid a new conflagration in the region already embroiled in terrible conflicts with immense suffering of civilians,” added the statement.
The Golan was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and in 1974, a UN observer force was set up to monitor the ceasefire reached that year by Israel and Syria.
Mr. Dujarric noted that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has maintained contact with forces of both sides during the latest hostilities and urged them to exercise “maximum restraint” and abide by their obligations under the 1974 agreement.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Al-Jazeera news channel, Iran has denied Israel’s allegations that it launched rocket attacks on its forces in the occupied Golan Heights, calling the claims “fabricated” and “baseless.”
Tempers have already been flaring in the region after Israeli forces opened fire against Palestinian protesters in Gaza.
UNICEF/ El Baba On 20 April 2016 in Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories, a student looks inside of one of the classrooms that was destroyed during the 2014 hostilities.
According to the United Nations, the escalating violence in Gaza has exacerbated the suffering of children whose lives have already been unbearably difficult for several years.”
Geert Cappelaere, the Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at UNICEF, noted last week that in addition to the physical injuries, children are showing increasing signs of severe distress and trauma.
“Yesterday, our UNICEF Special Representative visited a 14-year-old boy who suffered a gunshot wound, causing a severe injury close to his heart. He is now home recovering after being in hospital for two weeks. It is hard for him to be optimistic through the pain, but when he gets better, he wants to be a doctor, like the ones who helped him survive,” he said.
According to the UN agency, over the past five weeks, five children were killed and hundreds more injured in largely peaceful protests along the border with Israel. The UN’s top human rights official, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, called on Israeli Security Forces to curb the use of “lethal force against unarmed demonstrators.”
