UN ponders how to calm conflict as Israel battles militants on 2 fronts

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday to address the spiraling conflict in the Middle East.

Iran's ambassador to the UN said his country launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday as a deterrent to further Israeli violence, while his Israeli counterpart called the barrage an "unprecedented act of aggression".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late on Tuesday to retaliate, and an Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel did so. US President Biden said Wednesday that he would not support an Israeli attack targeting Iran's nuclear programme.

Israel further ruffled feathers on Wednesday when its foreign minister declared the UN secretary-general "persona non-grata" in the country, doubling down on decades of accusations of antisemitism against the organisation.

Israel was meanwhile battling militants on two fronts, pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said eight soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas' cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Israel's UN ambassador said on Wednesday that the "the time for empty calls for de-escalation is over".

Danny Danon told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that "Iran's true face is one of terror, death and chaos".

"This is no longer a matter of words," he said. "Iran is a very real and present danger to the world, and if they are not stopped, the next wave of missiles will not be aimed solely at Israel," he said.

He called Iran's missile barrage aimed at Israel on Tuesday "a cold-blooded attack against 10 million civilians" and "an unprecedented act of aggression".

Danon stressed that Israel will not stop until all of the hostages taken by Hamas and other militants are back in Israel.

"Let the world understand: Israel will defend itself, and we will do so with justice and strength," he said.

Iran's UN ambassador, meanwhile, said Tehran had to launch a barrage of missiles at Israel to "restore balance" after escalating Israeli violence in the region.

Amir Saeid Iravani told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the missile attack was "a necessary and proportionate response to Israel's continued terrorist aggressive acts over the past two months".

He said Iran has "consistently pursued peace and stability" and that Israel sees Iranian restraint "not as a gesture of goodwill but as a weakness to exploit".

"Each act of restraint taken by Iran has only emboldened Israel to commit greater crimes and more acts of aggression," Iravani said. "Consequently, Iran's response was necessary to restore balance and deterrence."

He also accused the US of complicity "in Israel's crimes" by helping to arm the nation after the October 7 attacks by Hamas.