UN chief, senior staff 'closely' following developments in south Lebanon

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN affirmed Thursday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his team are closely monitoring developments in Lebanon.

"UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, has been in constant contact with all concerned actors to urge restraint and calm as well as well as to support diplomatic efforts to end this cycle of violence, urgently," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

Noting that Guterres and senior staff are "following the situation very closely in terms of what developments in south Lebanon and in northern Israel," Dujarric conveyed the UN's call to "recommit to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, and return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability."

Resolution 1701 aims to halt hostilities and stabilize the region.

Dujarric noted that the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is in contact with the parties involved.

Thousands of pagers exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, killing 12 and injuring 2,323 on Tuesday. A second wave of device explosions Wednesday killed 25 and injured 608.

There has been no Israeli response to the blasts, which occurred amid an escalation in cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the beginning of Israel's deadly onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 victims, the majority of whom are women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.