BEIRUT: Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to retaliate against Israel after hundreds of paging devices used by the group’s members exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others.
Only hours before the attack, Israel said it was broadening the aims of its aggression to include its fight against the Palestinian group’s ally Hezbollah.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,” the group said, adding Israel would “certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression”.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Israel’s regional arch-foe Iran, vowed Wednesday to continue its fight against Israel in support of Gaza, while reiterating it would avenge the attack.
“This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must wait for its massacre on Tuesday,” it said on Telegram.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to give a televised address at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday.
The wave of blasts killed 12 people including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said, putting the number of wounded at between 2,750 and 2,800.
Some cases in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley “were transferred to Syria”, while “other cases will be evacuated to Iran”, Abiad added.
Israel planted explosives in 5,000 Hezbollah’s pagers, say sources
“This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override,” said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.
“A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page,” the analyst said, adding Israel’s spy agency “Mossad infiltrated the supply chain”.
Hospitals overwhelmed
The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds.
At one hospital in Beirut’s southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent saw people being treated in a car park on thin mattresses, with medical gloves on the ground and ambulance stretchers covered in blood.
“In all my life I’ve never seen someone walking on the street… and then explode,” said Musa, requesting to be identified only by his first name.
Among the dead was the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member.
She was killed in east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley when her father’s pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said.
A son of Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar was also among the dead, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Tehran’s ambassador in Beirut was hurt but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported.
Iran accused Israel of “mass murder”, with foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemning what he branded a “terrorist act” by Israel.
The attack dealt a heavy blow to the group, which already had concerns about the security of its communications after losing several key commanders to targeted air strikes in recent months.
A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, told AFP that “the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices” which appear to have been “sabotaged at source”.
After The New York Times reported the pagers had been ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, the company said they had been produced by its Hungarian partner BAC Consulting KFT.
Lufthansa and Air France announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday.
Israel expands war aims
Hours before the attack, Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon.
To date, Israel’s objectives had been to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages seized by Palestinian group during the October 7 attacks.
Since October, the unabating exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah have killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side.
They have also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.
On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that failing a political solution, “military action” would be “the only way left to ensure the return” of displaced residents to the border area.
Blinken in Cairo
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Cairo on Wednesday to try to salvage ceasefire talks for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In a meeting with the US envoy, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi vowed to intensify peace talks.
He also called for “decisive intervention to remove obstacles to the entry of huge amounts of aid” to Gaza and “ending Israeli violations in the West Bank”, his office said.
US officials have expressed increasing frustration with Israel, which has rejected US assessments that a deal is nearly complete and insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.
Israel’s aggression has killed at least 41,252 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian deaths.
On Wednesday, UN member states were set to vote on a push to demand an end to the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian territories within 12 months.
General Assembly votes are not binding, but Israel has already firmly rejected the resolution.
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