UN human rights chief Volker Turk has likened the Gaza war to a “powder keg” with the potential to spark broader conflict in West Asia. Turk said it was imperative to do everything possible to avoid a wider conflagration, Al Arabiya reported.

“The war in Gaza has already generated dangerous spillover in neighboring countries,” he said in his global update to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“I am deeply concerned that in this powder keg, any spark could lead to a much broader conflagration. This would have implications for every country in the Middle East (West Asia) and many beyond it.”

He said that overlapping emergencies made the specter of spillover conflict very real.

“The military escalation in southern Lebanon between Israel, Hezbollah and other armed groups is extremely worrying,” Turk said.