Israel bombs southern Lebanon after declaring 'new phase' of war in wake of Hezbollah walkie-talkies blasts
At least 25 people are dead and over 600 injured after hand-held radios used by militant group Hezbollah detonated late on Wednesday afternoon.
The explosions took place across the country's south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.
At least one of the blasts happened near a funeral organised by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of pagers used by the group exploded across the country.
There are now fears about other electronic devices.
Lebanon’s health ministry in its latest update on Thursday said 25 were killed and over 600 wounded in Wednesday’s fresh blasts.
It came as Israel bombed southern Lebanon and said it had thwarted an Iranian-led assassination plot.
Israel said its warplanes struck villages in southern Lebanon overnight, and a security source and Hezbollah's al-Manar TV reported airstrikes near the border resumed on Thursday just after midday.
While Hezbollah said it had targeted military positions in northern Israel, without specifying what weapons it used.
Israeli hospitals reported that they treated at least eight patients injured in the attacks.
Many of the wounds in Wednesday’s pager blasts were to the stomach and hands, a source told local media, while one Hezbollah official said the episode was the biggest security breach in the group's history.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency also reported several explosions of old “pager devices” elsewhere in Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern city of Baalbek, which took place during several funeral processions for Hezbollah members.
Israel, who were blamed by Hezbollah for Tuesday’s blasts, are yet to comment on the explosions. But on Wednesday following the latest blasts Israel's defence minister declared a "new phase" of the war as its army turned its attention to the northern front with Lebanon.
During a visit to the Ramat David base on Wednesday, Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops that the IDF were allocating more resources to the northern border.
“We are at the onset of a new phase in the war, it requires courage, determination and perseverance from us,” he said.
He said: “The ‘centre of gravity’ is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena. We have not forgotten the hostages and we have not forgotten our missions in the south – we are committed to our duties, and we are carrying them out simultaneously.
“Operations are carried out by all the security organizations and our task is clear – ensuring the safe return of Israel’s northern residents to their homes.”
Elsewhere, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts.
Hezbollah has turned to pagers and other low-tech communication devices in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance of mobile phones.
Images of the exploded walkie-talkies showed labels bearing the name of Japanese radio communications and telephone company ICOM and resembled the firm's model IC-V82 device.
Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed ICOM said on Thursday it was investigating news reports two-way radio devices bearing its logo exploded in Lebanon and would release updated information as it becomes available on its website.
The company, which says it manufactures all of its radios in Japan, could not confirm whether it had shipped the device, in part because that model had been discontinued 10 years ago.
The Osaka-based firm said its products for overseas markets are sold exclusively through authorised distributors and it vets exports in accordance with Japan's security trade control regulations.
The company has previously warned about counterfeit versions of its devices circulating in the market, especially discontinued models.
The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers, a security source said.
Tensions continue to mount in the region following the blasts. Iran, that backs Hezbollah, condemned the explosions as “terrorism” as it blamed Israel for “the death and injury of hundreds of Lebanese civilians."
In Baalbek, several wounded were rushed to the hospital, while one device in a Beirut southern suburb exploded inside an apartment.
Large plumes of smoke can be seen from the building in a photo circulated by the NNA.
The Lebanese military urged people not to gather in areas where the incidents are taking place as medical teams try to reach the area.
In Tuesday's explosions, sources said Israeli spies remotely detonated explosives they planted in a Hezbollah order of 5,000 pagers before they entered the country.
The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday about the pager blasts after a request by Arab states.
Tehran's ambassador in Lebanon was superficially injured in Tuesday's blasts, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported and the New York Times said he lost one eye and the other was severely injured when a pager he was carrying exploded, citing two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike at its arch-foe since the pager blasts wounded thousands of its members in Lebanon and raised the prospect of a wider Middle East war.
The Israeli foreign ministry has reported air raid alarms sounding in northern Israel.
A Hezbollah official said hand-held radios used by the group have exploded a day after the country was rocked by pagers detonating across the country.
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Smoke could be seen over western Galilee.
In a statement published on Telegram Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli's artillery positions in northern Israel “with a volley of rockets”, Reuters reports.
Since October when the Gaza conflict erupted, there's been repeated exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israelis.
The previous highest daily Lebanese death toll was 11 who died in Israeli shelling last month, according to official counts.
More than 8,000 rockets have been fired at northern Israel and the Israeli army retaliated with air strikes, tank and artillery fire against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
Israel’s Mossad spy agency has been blamed for planting explosives inside thousands of pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before they detonated.
The operation on Tuesday was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing 12 people - including two children - and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group’s fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
A Lebanese security source said the pagers were from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but the company said in a statement it did not manufacture the devices. It said they were made by a company called BAC which has a licence to use its brand, but gave no more details.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts.