Escalating conflicts in Middle East spark stability concerns in region

Global leaders are now doubling down on demands that efforts be made to lower tensions in the region.

With missile attacks in Lebanon and Syria and airstrikes between Pakistan and Iran, escalating tensions outside of Gaza in the Middle East have sparked global concern that the region is teetering on the brink of turmoil.

Israel continues to clash with Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, hitting a Lebanese army checkpoint on Saturday with a deadly strike and injuring several more people, according to Lebanese state media.

In Syria, a lethal Israeli airstrike on the country's capital destroyed a building used by the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. With each strike, the possibility of a two-state solution was called into question.

"Regardless of how popular it is, the reality on the ground is the two-state solution is dead," John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said. "Something has to be done for the Palestinians. They've been abused. They've [been] made into a weapon against Israel for 75 years now. That hasn't gotten anywhere. But the idea that you're going to reconstruct Gaza and build a state on that, I think, defies reality."

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip says more than 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza since fighting broke out between Hamas and Israeli forces in October. In response, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to remain firm in his rejection of calls for a ceasefire.