A broader regional war in the Middle East where conflict already rages between Hamas and Israel remains a “significant risk”, the head of the UN peacekeeping force warned.

According to AFP, speaking to reporters in Brussels, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned against making assumptions about how regional actors will behave.

“The perception could exist that there are certain rules that neither parties want to trespass and therefore that we are in a situation that is more stable than one could think,” Lacroix said on the sidelines of an EU defence ministers’ meeting.

“There is still a very significant risk of escalation at the regional level,” he said, adding: “We are still very much in a very, very dangerous type of situation.”