On 2 October, Secretary-General António Guterres, in an emergency Security Council meeting, reiterated his appeal for a ceasefire in Gaza and a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. “The raging fires in the Middle East are fast becoming an inferno,” he cautioned, noting that tensions were escalating along the Blue Line with “almost daily exchanges of fire by Hizbullah and other non-State armed groups in Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces." Pointing to the temporary ceasefire proposed by the United States and France to allow for the restart of negotiations, he said, “Israel refused that proposal and stepped up its strikes, including bombing the Hizbullah headquarters where its leader was killed” and conducting a “limited incursion” into southern Lebanon, while “Hizbullah has continued rocket and missile attacks on Israel”.
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