UN Fears the Gaza and Lebanon Wars Spreading to Syria

---

The United Nations has warned that Syria is on the brink of a “military, humanitarian, and economic storm,” alerting to escalating violence within the country and the extension of conflicts from Gaza and Lebanon. Sources say that the Israeli Prime Minister is seeking to escalate tensions in the region and drag the United States into a war with Iran and its proxies, with Syria being one of the arenas where this conflict could unfold.

• Israel’s Attempt to Break ‘Al-Qard Al-Hassan’: Cutting Hezbollah’s Financial Channels

• Tense Atmosphere in Beirut Due to Displaced People from Hezbollah Strongholds

Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told the Security Council that “the fires of conflict are blazing in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza, and also in Lebanon,” adding, “this heat can also be felt in Syria.” He warned that “the spread of regional conflict into Syria is concerning and could worsen.”

While Israel has targeted Hezbollah sites in Syria for years, it has increased its airstrikes in the country as its war in Lebanon expands, accusing Hezbollah of transferring weapons to Lebanon via Syria.

• Hezbollah relies on new leadership whose members are unknown to Israel

• “New Phase”: Hezbollah Announces Escalation of Clashes with Israel

Pedersen told the Security Council that Syria had “witnessed last month the fastest and most extensive Israeli air campaign in the past 13 years,” adding that residential areas, “even in the heart of Damascus,” were bombed.

One soldier was killed, and seven others were injured early Thursday in an “Israeli air aggression” on the capital Damascus and the Homs countryside, according to Syrian regime media.

• “Target Tel Aviv”: Hezbollah’s New “Qader 2” Ballistic Missile

• Iran Faces a Dilemma… Who Will Be the Successor to Hezbollah?

The “SANA” news agency, citing an unnamed military source, reported that “early today, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and from northern Lebanon,” explaining that the air raid “targeted two points in the Kafr Sousa neighborhood of Damascus and a military site in the Homs countryside.”

The source reported the “martyrdom of one soldier, injury of seven others, and material damage.” Israel usually remains silent regarding its strikes on Syria.

• Maher Al-Assad Abandons Hezbollah to Avoid Israeli Strikes

• Finances under fire: Hezbollah faces financial crisis

On Monday evening, a car exploded after being targeted in Damascus, with Israeli news outlets on Telegram circulating reports of the assassination of the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad Nakhalah, which the movement denied.

On October 10, the Israeli army launched airstrikes on a car factory in the Homs countryside and a military site in the Hama countryside (central Syria), causing material damage, according to “SANA.”

• Hezbollah Prepares for War of Attrition with New Leadership to Lead the Battle

• One of them was a missile system commander… Israel kills Hezbollah leaders

Since 2011, Israel has occasionally launched airstrikes on Syria, claiming they target Iran-backed groups and Syrian regime military positions.

Recently, shelling between Iran-backed militias and US forces has increased on Syrian soil in the context of the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

In the northwest of the country, it seems that the regional escalation is “fueling” the internal conflict in Syria, Pedersen said, referring to the recent attack by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on areas controlled by government forces.

• Hezbollah Foils Israeli Ground Incursion Attempts

• Disengagement from Gaza: Did Hezbollah accept in private what it publicly rejected?

He added that, in the meantime, Russian airstrikes, which support the Syrian government, have resumed for the first time in months, while “pro-government forces have significantly accelerated their drone strikes.”

“We are seeing all the components of a military, humanitarian, and economic storm brewing in war-torn Syria,” he said.

• Targeted by Hezbollah: What Do We Know About the Israeli Galilout Base?

• Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guard Experts under Houthi Suspicion: New Arrangements in Yemen

The Syrian war, which erupted from anti-government protests in 2011, has left more than 500,000 dead and millions displaced. A ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey in northern Syria was declared in 2020, although it is frequently violated.

Pedersen warned that “regional escalation could lead to the collapse of ceasefire agreements, which, although incomplete, have provided a necessary freeze on frontlines” over the past four years.