UN 'extremely concerned' as Mideast conflict moves to new level

GENEVA, Sept 23 (AFP): The United Nations voiced alarm Monday at the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, warning that actions and rhetoric was catapulting the Mideast conflict "to another level".
"We are extremely concerned, deeply worried about the escalation in Lebanon," Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, told AFP.
"The attacks that we saw on the communication devices, the pagers, followed by rocket attacks and rocket fire being exchanged on both sides ... marks a real escalation," she said.
"What we've been warning about all along, the regional spillover of the conflict, it appears that both the actions and the rhetoric of the parties to the conflict is taking the conflict to another level."
Iran's foreign ministry warned Israel on Monday of "dangerous consequences" following deadly strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.
Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani called the Israeli strikes "insane", and warned of "the dangerous consequences of the Zionists' new adventure".
After nearly a year of tit-for-tat cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, the strikes since the weekend are the most intense since the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip last October 7.
Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on the south killed 100 people and wounded more than 400 others on Monday, while Lebanese official media said people were receiving Israeli phone warnings telling them to move away from Hezbollah targets.
Israel meanwhile said more than 300 Hezbollah sites had been targeted on Monday in dozens of strikes.
That came after at least 39 people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded last week when hand-held communications devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated across Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel, which has not commented.