UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned today, Saturday, of the risk of war breaking out on a large scale due to the increasing exchange of fire across the Israeli-Lebanese border.

UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement that "the UN is deeply concerned about the increasing intensity of the exchange of fire across the blue line on Thursday, which raises the risk of widespread war," according to what the Palestinian agency "Sama" reported.

The statement added: "Escalation can, and must, be avoided, and we reiterate that the risk of miscalculation that leads to a sudden and widespread fire is very real," emphasizing that "the political and diplomatic solution is the only viable way forward."

The United Nations added: "We reiterate the calls from the office of the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) urging both sides to immediately return to a ceasefire and fully comply with Security Council resolution 1701 of 2006."

Since October 8, Lebanese and Palestinian factions in Lebanon, most notably Hezbollah, have been exchanging daily shelling with the Israeli occupation army across the separating blue line, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.

The factions condition the cessation of shelling on ending Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in about 125,000 Palestinian martyrs and injured, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing.