Wider Middle East war still a ‘significant risk,’ UN peacekeeping chief says

BRUSSELS, Belgium — A broader regional war in the Middle East where conflict already rages between Hamas and Israel remains a “significant risk,” the head of the UN peacekeeping force warns.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix warns against making assumptions about how regional actors will behave.

“The perception could exist that there are certain rules that neither parties want to trespass and therefore that we are in a situation that is more stable than one could think,” Lacroix says on the sidelines of an EU defense ministers’ meeting.

“There is still a very significant risk of escalation at the regional level,” he says, adding: “We are still very much in a very, very dangerous type of situation.”

Lacroix warns of the risk of an “unintended” escalation or a “misunderstanding.”

“One of the risks, in particular in southern Lebanon, is both parties not exactly understanding where the other is in terms of calculus,” he says.