Israel-Hezbollah conflict – latest: Israel strikes Lebanon as Hezbollah says device blasts are ‘act of war’
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blames Israel for attacks on group's communications devices that left 37 dead
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The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as the movement’s leader accused Israel of “crossing all of the red lines”, heightening fears of an escalation into a full-blown regional war.
Israeli jets were carrying out huge sonic booms over the Lebanese capital Beirut during a speech by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday, according to a witness.
Nasrallah blamed Israel for this week's deadly attacks on the militant group's communications devices, which he called a "severe blow" and said the group is investigating.
Hand-held walkie-talkie radios used by the armed group were detonated across Lebanon’s south on Wednesday, stoking tensions after similar explosions of the group’s pagers the day before.
The Lebanese mission to the UN said that they were detonated by “electronic messages”, and authorities had concluded the explosives had been implanted before arriving in the country.
Lebanon's health minister said on Thursday that the death toll from the second attack in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley has now risen to 25, with at least 608 injured. A further 12 people were killed in explosions the previous day, including two children, with nearly 2,300 wounded.
"We are opening a new phase in the war," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in the aftermath, adding that his country’s military focus is shifting to its northern border.
At least 20 dead as walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon as Israel declares ‘new phase of war’ against Hezbollah
A war with Hezbollah may be looming. Is Israel prepared?
From booby-trapped walkie-talkies to exploding pagers – could our phones and cars be next?
Everything we know about the Hezbollah device explosions – and the questions that remain
Hezbollah pager attack mapped: Where did the explosions take place?
Israel waging ‘just war with just means’, claims Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is waging “just war with just means” and claimed it is taking “unprecedented measures to keep civilians out of harm’s way and comporting fully with international law”.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: “After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government was clear in its support.”
Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages.
They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britain’s position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organisation that carried out the October 7 massacre.
He also told the newspaper: “Most recently, the new UK government suspended 30 arms licences to Israel, days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, sending a horrible message to Hamas.
“These misguided decisions will not change Israel’s determination to defeat Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organisation that savagely murdered 1,200 people on October 7, including 14 British citizens, and took 255 people, including five British hostages.
“Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defeating barbarism, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror. Israel will win this war and secure our common future.”
Mr Netanyahu also said the UK is “witnessing shameless antisemitism on its campuses, at its city centres and in many parts of the country”, adding: “It is worrisome. I trust and expect that the UK leadership will take the necessary steps to root out this scourge.”
Israel has long history of pulling off complex attacks like exploding pagers in Lebanon
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were quick to blame Israel for the nearly simultaneous detonation of hundreds of pagers used by the militant group’s members in an attack Tuesday that killed at least nine people and wounded nearly 3,000 others, according to officials.
Many of those hit were members of militant group Hezbollah, but it wasn’t immediately clear if others also carried the pagers. Among those killed were the son of a prominent Hezbollah politician and an 8-year-old girl, according to Lebanon’s health minister.
The attack came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was among those injured by the pager explosions.
Read the full article here:
Israel has a long history of pulling off complex attacks like the exploding pagers
Thousands of pagers used members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people and wounding several thousand
Netanyahu accuses UK of sending ‘mixed messages’ over support for Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the UK government of sending “mixed messages” over its support for Israel and “undermining” the country’s right to self-defence.
Israel’s prime minister criticised the new Labour administration for suspending around 30 arms exports to Israel amid concerns they could be used in violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has also dropped the previous Conservative government’s plan to challenge the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) application for an arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu.
Both decisions have caused diplomatic tensions with Israel, which launched a counter-attack in Gaza after Hamas-led militants broke into Israel and killed around 1,200 people and abducted around 250 others.
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the counter-attack, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Pentagon chief and Israeli counterpart discuss threats to Israel
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on Wednesday with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant to review regional security developments and reiterate US support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Hezbollah and other Iranian allies, the Pentagon said.
Taiwan closely monitoring Hezbollah pager explosions
Taiwan’s national security agencies are closely monitoring the recent detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, defence minister Wellington Koo said.
The incident has drawn Taiwan into the spotlight due to links to a Taiwanese firm, Gold Apollo, which allegedly produced the pagers. However, Gold Apollo denied involvement, stating that the devices were manufactured by a Budapest-based company licensed to use its brand.
“Relevant national security bodies are closely watching developments,” Mr Koo said in Taipei, adding they are “paying great attention” to this.
The Taiwanese government has not provided further details on its involvement or response to the situation.
What has boobytrapping Hezbollah’s pagers actually achieved?
As a global propaganda coup for the Israeli security services, the pager attacks on Hezbollah members in Lebanon could scarcely be surpassed.
What kind of a mind, one wonders, dreams up such a macabre lark as this, an “exploding cigar” practical joke on a grand scale?
The sheer audacity of it was very much in the Israeli tradition, and it made some points rather forcefully. It proved that the Israelis could intercept Hezbollah supply lines, and with such ease that they could find the time to fit a few grams of military-grade explosives to each device, disguised as an electronic component.
Read the full article here:
What has boobytrapping Hezbollah’s pagers actually achieved?
The audacious attack was a PR coup for Israel and humiliation for the terrorists – but it does nothing to create a lasting framework of peaceful co-existence, says Sean O’Grady
British-educated businesswoman denies making Hezbollah explosive pagers which killed at least 12 people
A British-educated businesswoman has denied allegations of manufacturing the pagers used in an audacious attack against Hezbollah.
The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 after they simultaneously detonated across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon in a suspected Israeli operation.
The Taiwanese company whose branding was on the technology claimed Budapest-based firm BAC Consultancy made the devices under a three-year brand licensing agreement.
Read the full article here:
British-educated businesswoman denies making Hezbollah pagers which killed 12 people
Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono studied for a PhD in physics at UCL between 2002 and 2006
Watch: Moment of explosion in Beirut one day after pagers detonate
Watch: Moment of explosion in Beirut one day after pagers detonate
The moment explosions rang out in Beirut on Wednesday, 18 September, during a funeral procession for a person who was killed when pagers detonated the previous day, was captured on video. Lebanon’s health ministry says at least nine people were killed and 300 were wounded. It comes a day after at least 12 people – including two children – were killed and thousands wounded after electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah simultaneously exploded in Lebanon and Syria. Reports emerged that hand-held walkie-talkie devices detonated one day after the pager blasts.
Live view of Israel’s border with Lebanon
Live view of Israel’s border with Lebanon after Hezbollah pager explosions kill nine
Watch a live view of Israel’s border with Lebanon on Wednesday 18 September after Hezbollah pager explosions killed nine and injured thousands.
Read the full story: At least 20 dead as walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon
Handheld radios used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday in a second wave of deadly blasts as Israel’s defence minister declared his country was entering a “new phase of war” on its northern border.
At least 20 people were killed and 450 injured by the detonations, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
While Israel has not commented, the finger has been pointed at its Mossad spy agency. A senior Lebanese security source and a second source told reporters that Mossad – which has a long history of complex attacks on foreign soil – planted explosives inside the pagers. The claim was mirrored by American officials cited in US media.
Read the full article from chief international correspondent Bel Trew here:
At least 20 dead in walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon
More than 450 injured across the country a day after exploding pagers killed 12 and wounded around 3,000
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