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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned against a wider conflict in West Asia after Israeli officials threatened to launch an invasion of Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters in New York, the UN chief said the risk for the conflict in the region to widen is real, citing an escalation in the daily exchange of fire and the war of words between the regime and the resistance movement. 

"I felt compelled today to voice my profound concerns about the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah along the Blue Line. Escalation in continued exchanges of fire. And escalation in bellicose rhetoric from both sides as if an all-out war was imminent. The risk of the conflict in the Middle East to widen is real -- and must be avoided. One rash move – one miscalculation -- could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” he said.

The top UN diplomat said the people of the region and the world cannot “afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”

"The parties must urgently recommit to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and immediately return to a cessation of hostilities. Civilians must be protected. Children, journalists and medical workers should never be targeted, and displaced communities must be able to return to their homes. The world must say loudly and clearly, that immediate de-escalation is not only possible, it is essential. There is no military solution."

The UN chief said the UN peacekeepers are working to calm the situation and prevent miscalculation.

"For our part, the United Nations is actively engaging to promote peace, security and stability in line with Security Council Resolution 1701. UN peacekeepers, usually fields, are on the ground, working to de-escalate tensions, and they'll prevent miscalculations. In an extremely challenging environment."

Hezbollah started the ongoing round of anti-Israel operations on October 8, a day after the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza vowing to eliminate resistance factions there.

Hezbollah says its operations are meant to support the Gaza resistance and to put pressure on the regime to stop the genocide in Gaza, which has so far left over 35,000 Gazans dead, most of them women and children.

The exchange of fire has intensified following the Israeli assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Sami Taleb Abdallah last week.

The movement has retaliated by firing hundreds of rockets into the northern parts of the occupied territories.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had approved plans for an attack on Lebanon, raising concerns that the regime might carry out threats that it will turn Lebanon into another Gaza.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed that "no place" in the Israeli-occupied territories would "be spared our rockets" if a wider war began.

Nasrallah emphasized that an incursion into the Galilee region remains an option on the table should Israel invade southern Lebanon.

He also said they would attack any other country in the region that assisted Israel in the war effort, citing Cyprus, which has hosted Israeli forces for training exercises.

The Yemeni Armed Forces say they have conducted new operations against Israel-linked ships in the nearby waters in support of Palestinian people and in retaliation for the US-British aggression against the country.

Spokesman for the Yemeni army, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, made the announcement in a Sunday statement.

“The naval forces of our Armed Forces carried out a second targeting operation against the ship Transworld Navigator in the Red Sea, using an uncrewed surface boat, which led to a direct hit against the ship,” he said.

Transworld Navigator had been already attacked by Yemeni forces in the Arabian Sea with a number of ballistic missiles on Saturday.

“The missile force of our Armed Forces carried out an operation targeting the ship Stolt Sequoia in the Indian Ocean with a number of cruise missiles, and the operation has successfully achieved its objectives,” Saree added in his statement.

He noted that the two ships were targeted after the companies owning them decided to violate the ban enforced by the Yemeni Armed Forces on the entry of ships to the ports in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The new operations came after earlier on Saturday, the Yemeni forces carried out a host of attacks targeting American and Israel-linked vessels, including the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower, which was hit for the second time.

In his Sunday statement, Saree said, “As part of retaliation for the American-British aggression against our country, the operations of the Yemeni Armed Forces forced the American aircraft carrier Eisenhower to leave the Red Sea.”

He once again warned all maritime companies to avoid doing business with the occupying regime of Israel, adding that “their ships will be directly targeted in the operation zone of the Yemeni Armed Forces regardless of their destination.”

He concluded by saying that operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces will continue until the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip stops and the siege of the Palestinian territory is lifted.

Yemen’s Armed Forces have been carrying out countless operations against Israel-linked ships or those heading towards ports in the occupied Palestinian territories since October 7, 2023 when the Tel Aviv regime began its genocidal war on Gaza.

Nearly 37,600 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and over 86,000 others sustained injuries in the brutal Israeli military onslaught against the coastal sliver.

The Yemeni forces have also conducted many operations against American and British vessels in response to deadly attacks by the United States and the UK against their country, which have been seeking to stop the forces’ pro-Palestinian operations.

Twelve former US officials have denounced President Joe Biden’s policies on Gaza as “a failure and a threat” to the country’s national security, calling on the government to overhaul them and use all "available leverage” to bring the ongoing war to an immediate end.

The 12 signatories who quit their posts over Biden’s controversial approach made the remarks in a joint public statement titled "Service in Dissent" which was released on Tuesday in conjunction with Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July.

“Each of us has sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and as our nation celebrates its Independence Day, each of us are reminded that we resigned from government not to terminate that oath but to continue to abide by it; not to end our commitment to service, but to extend it,” the former officials said.

“This failed policy has not achieved its stated objectives,” they said, noting that it has not brought safety to the Israeli regime and has rather been “devastating for the Palestinian people, ensuring a vicious cycle of poverty and hopelessness, with all the implications of that cycle, for generations to come.”

The signatories went on to say, “As a group of dedicated Americans in service of our country, we insist that there is another way,” outlining steps to ensure that a "catastrophic policy failure like this can never happen again."

The ex-officials also argued that the US policy toward Gaza has “been deeply damaging” not only for US relations in the region, but also for the country’s global credibility.

The former officials further noted that US’ continuous flow of arms to Israel has ensured the country’s “undeniable complicity in the killings and forced starvation of a besieged Palestinian population in Gaza.”

"This is not only morally reprehensible and in clear violation of international humanitarian law and US laws, but it has also put a target on America’s back," they added, arguing that it has put the lives of service members and diplomats at risk.

The signatories also called on Washington to use “all necessary and available leverage to bring the conflict to an immediate close”, ensure expansion of humanitarian aid to Gazans and support the self-determination of the Palestinian people.

“There is an urgent need for change in the organizational cultures and structures that have enabled the current US approach,” they stressed, calling on Washington to have transparency regarding arms transfers.

The signatories further stated they “stand united in a shared belief that it is our collective responsibility to speak up,” urging their colleagues to use their voice and not to be complicit.

Among the signatories are Josh Paul, who oversaw Congressional relations on weapons transfers, a former White House official, two former air force department personnel and a former army officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Israel launched the devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

Since then, the United States has supplied the Tel Aviv regime with more than 10,000 tons of military equipment, and used its veto power against all United Nations Security Council resolutions that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The relentless Israeli military campaign against Gaza has so far killed nearly 38,000 people, most of them women and children.