UN official warns Mideast ‘at the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss’

A United Nations official is warning that the escalating violence between Israel and Hamas risks an increase in conflict in the Middle East as a whole.

“I fear that we are at the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if not of the Middle East as a whole,” Tor Wennesland, U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said Wednesday. 

“After more than a century of conflict, and over half a century of occupation, we, the international community, have failed collectively to bring the parties to adjust to stay in political resolution,” he continued.

Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, Wennesland called for Hamas to release the hostages it took into Gaza 11 days ago and called for “unrestricted access” to humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

He also said that the ongoing violence is one of the “most difficult moments facing the Israeli and Palestinian people” in the last 75 years.

“A long-term political solution is needed in line with U.N. resolutions, international law and previous agreements. As I’ve stated many times to this council, a patchwork of ad hoc and temporary fixes and perpetual management conflict without addressing underlying issues is not sustainable,” he said.

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented, deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that has left more than 1,400 Israelis dead. Most of the death toll came from that initial attack, when Hamas also took at least 199 people hostage, according to Israel.

This prompted Israel to declare war on the group and target Hamas’s strongholds in Gaza, where Israel also cut off water, fuel and electricity in the wake of the attacks by Hamas — which the U.S. has declared a terrorist group. The Gaza Health Ministry said that at least 3,478 Palestinians have been killed and another 12,000 have been injured in the past 11 days.

President Biden made a trip Wednesday to war-torn Israel, where he reiterated the U.S.’s support for Israel and also announced a humanitarian aid package to Gaza.