UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the UN Security Council on Thursday that the Middle East is 'on the brink' of sliding into an 'extensive regional conflict,' urging maximum restraint in 'this moment of utmost danger.'

Guterres stated, 'In Gaza, six and a half months of Israeli military operations have created a hellish reality' on the humanitarian front, confirming that two million Palestinians suffer in the devastated enclave from 'death, destruction, deprivation of vital humanitarian assistance, and hunger.'