Rocket launches across Blue Line must stop immediately: UN envoy

WASHINGTON

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process on Sunday condemned an "abhorrent rocket attack" on the northern part of the occupied Golan Heights.

"I urge all to exercise maximum restraint. The launching of rockets across the Blue Line must cease immediately. The Middle East is on the brink; the world and the region cannot afford another open conflict," Tor Wennesland wrote Sunday on X.

Children continue to bear the burden of the "horrific violence" plaguing the region, he added.

His remarks came after Israeli authorities said at least 12 people were killed and 35 injured in the attack on the town of Druze in Majdal Shams.

The army accused Hezbollah for the attack but the Lebanese group denied responsibility.

Urging parties to exercise 'maximum restraint'

Separately, UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Aroldo Lazaro Saenz, the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that civilians must be protected at all times.

"We urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint & to put a stop to the ongoing intensified exchanges of fire. It could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief," it said.

UNIFIL and the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL) are in contact with Lebanon and Israel, it added.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 39,300 victims since October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.