Top Israeli officials have warned they are ‘willing to go all the way’ after two days of tech explosions plagued Hezbollah, killing 20 people.
Israel‘s allies and enemies are manoeuvring to prepare for a potential all-out war after two days of deadly Hezbollah radio explosions.
Dozens of victims sustained severe facial injuries, with doctors explaining how they were forced to cut out victims’ eyeballs.
Others had their hands blown off, or suffered gaping wounds in their abdomen had they concealed the pager on their hip.
The world has already begun reacting to the second wave of attacks, with senior diplomats from the US, UK, Germany, France and Italy due to meet on Thursday in Paris to discuss a response to the spiralling tensions in the Middle East.
The US has denied any involvement and wants to see the ‘war end’.
Sir Keir Starmer described the situation in Lebanon as ‘deeply concerning’ amid simmering tensions – as Hezbollah vowed revenge.
Britain’s Prime Minister described the situation in Lebanon as ‘deeply concerning’
In a statement released on social media, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will return Israel’s northern citizens to their homes
The White House said the US was not involved in the wave of explosions that took place in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday and wants to see the ‘war end’
Explosions occurred in radio equipment across the country and south of the capital Beirut
A radio device exploded in the city of Baalbek is seen in the living room where it blew up
Pictures from inside a residential building appear to show blast damage
People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon on September 18
Hezbollah, which is proscribed as a terror organisation by the UK, US and others, has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts.
It said Israel was ‘fully responsible for this criminal aggression’ and vowed revenge.
Earlier today, the group said it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike at its arch-foe since the pager blasts.
It said in a statement that it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager ‘massacre’ which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalised or dead.
Palestinian militant group Hamas blamed Israel for a new wave of device explosions in Lebanon Wednesday in which walkie-talkies exploded in Hezbollah strongholds.
‘We strongly condemn the renewed and ongoing Zionist aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people,’ Hamas said in a statement, adding that the attack, a day after Hezbollah pagers blew up, killing 12 people and wounding 2,800, ‘now threatens the security and stability of the region’.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq accused Israel of being responsible for the ‘continuous attack on Lebanon’, adding that Hamas reiterated its ‘utmost support for Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance and the people of Lebanon.’
In turn, a senior Israeli official has warned Hezbollah it risks an all-out war if it doesn’t accept a ceasefire deal suggested by the US.
They told Ynet: ‘The one who can stop the escalation is Nasrallah if he announces that he is willing to accept the US framework.
‘If not, we are willing to go all the way.’
The director of a Beirut-based thinktank told Sky News that the blasts have the potential to ‘throw Lebanon into a full-blown war with Israel‘.
Sami Nader, from the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said the explosions were a ‘hostile act’.
He said the blasts also raised ‘serious questions’ about what would happen next.
‘It was a very serious hostile act and it has all the potential to throw the country into a full-blown war with Israel, similar to the one that happened in 2006,’ he added.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant also declared the start of a ‘new phase’ of the war.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant also declared the start of a ‘new phase’ of the war
Gallant did not mention exploding pagers and walkie talkies but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, in a speech to troops today
Lebanese army soldiers stand guard near a fire truck at the scene of a reported pager device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon
People donate blood, one day after pagers explosions, in the southern suburb of Beirut
Gallant did not mention exploding pagers and walkie talkies but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, in a speech to troops today.
He said their ‘results are very impressive’, as he told gathered soldiers that they are ‘diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north’, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel’s army chief said his country has ‘many capabilities’ that have not yet been ‘activated’.
During a visit to northern troops, Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defence Force chief of staff, warned that Israel was ‘very determined to create the security conditions that will bring the residents [of the north] back to their homes, to the towns, with a high level of security, and we are ready to do whatever is required to enable this’.
Halevi said Israel has drawn up plans to attack Hezbollah, telling the Times of Israel: ‘We have many capabilities that we have not yet activated.
‘We have seen some of these things, it seems to me that we are well prepared and we are preparing these plans going forward.
Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces Herzi Halevi, said Israel has drawn up plans to attack Hezbollah
Chief of the General Staff of the IDF Herzi Halevi holds an assessment meeting
People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Beirut, after hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated
Lebanese soldiers taking precautions in the area after a new wave of wireless communications device explosions
Iranians place carnations and a poster of Fatma Abdullah, nine, who was killed in the attacks, in front of the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran
‘At each stage, the price for Hezbollah needs to be high.’
Since yesterday’s attack, the IDF revealed that it had struck a number of Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, with video showing an aerial raid on one alleged terrorist hideout.
‘Closing a circle from the air, fighter jets attacked the building where the terrorists were operating,’ the IDF said in a statement.
‘In addition, warplanes attacked the organisation’s military buildings in five different areas in southern Lebanon.’
The Israeli military added in a statement this morning that it would ‘continue to operate against the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in order to defend the State of Israel.’
In a statement released on social media, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will return Israel’s northern citizens to their homes.
In a brief video statement, Netanyahu made no mention of the operation that remotely detonated thousands of pagers and hand-held radio devices used by operatives of Hezbollah, which has blamed the attack on Israel.
‘I have said it before, we will return to the citizens of the north to their homes in security and that’s exactly what we are going to do,’ he said in a brief video statement, giving no further details.
In separate remarks, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said more forces were being sent to the northern border, where Israel has been exchanging daily fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah for months, as the war moved into a new phase.
‘The ‘centre of gravity’ is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena,’ he said in remarks released by his office.
In the UK, Downing Street has described the situation in Lebanon as ‘deeply concerning’ following the latest wave of attacks.
In a statement, a Number 10 spokesperson said the Prime Minister and the Government ‘continued to monitor the situation closely’.
Lebanese security officers check a partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon
Lebanese soldiers gather outside a damaged mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon
The White House’s national security adviser, John Kirby, said the US still believes that ‘there is a diplomatic path forward’
‘We are working with our international partners to urge calm and de-escalation at this critical time,’ a spokesperson told The Telegraph.
A Foreign Office spokesperson added: ‘We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and are concerned by the rising tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon.
‘The UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region.’
The White House’s national security adviser, John Kirby, said the US was not involved in the wave of explosions that took place in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.
‘We were not involved in yesterday’s incidents or today’s in any way,’ Kirby told reporters in a briefing.
He added that the US still believes that ‘there is a diplomatic path forward’.
The UN Secretary-General has said he is ‘deeply alarmed’ by the reports of exploding pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon and Syria.
‘The secretary general urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation,’ his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric continued, adding that he is calling for a ‘return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability’.
Earlier today, Antonio Guterres warned that the pager blasts targeting Hezbollah indicate ‘a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation.’
Earlier today, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the pager blasts targeting Hezbollah indicate ‘a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation’
Lebanese people arrive at blood donation centre in Beirut to donate blood on the call of Ministry Of Public Health following the attacks
Boy scouts raise the picture of a fellow scout, killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, during the funeral procession of some of those killed, in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 18
A picture circulating online appears to show one of the radio devices after it detonated
‘Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation,’ he told reporters ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly .
He also said that it was very important not to weaponize civilian objects.
Guterres ‘urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation,’ his spokesman Stephane Dujarric later said in a statement.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an independent investigation into the events surrounding exploding pagers.
Guterres also issued a statement on social media in response to the blasts across the Middle East.
He said: ‘I’m deeply alarmed by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon & Syria, killing at least 11 people, including children, and injuring thousands.
‘All actors must exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation.’
He also urged governments ‘not to weaponize civilian objects’.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday’s attack had come at an ‘extremely volatile time’, calling the blasts ‘shocking’ and their impact on civilians ‘unacceptable’.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East.
Mr Blinken’s visit to Cairo marks the 10th trip to the region since the start of the war that was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
His visit aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza would be the best way to stop violence from spreading in the Middle East
A hand shows the destroyed pager or paging device that exploded on September 17
And Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib warned the ‘blatant assault on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security’ was a dangerous development that could ‘signal a wider war’.
Elsewhere, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson slammed the Lebanon blasts as a ‘heinous act of terrorism’.
Maria Zakharova told RT: ‘All the signs are there of an international terrorist attack because it is obvious that in order to gather such a large amount of equipment, it had to be brought in, crossing several borders.
‘Obviously, there is an international trail in this and it should be investigated accordingly.
‘Now the reaction of the west should be indicative. If the west remains silent, and as always, does not insist on an investigation, does not talk about human rights, does not repeat its rhetoric of many years, which they have used in similar cases when terrorist acts were committed on their territory, then this will be proof of their direct engagement.’
Beirut’s hospitals are reportedly still at full capacity following yesterday’s attacks, with medical aid being rapidly diverted to the already crippled country as it deals with the catastrophe.
The repetition of the clandestine attacks, which Israel has not officially taken responsibility for, will raise already spiking tensions in the region to fever pitch, with Israel moving additional troops to its northern border and Lebanon’s foreign minister warning that the blasts are an omen of a widening war.
A drone hovers in the sky during the funeral of persons killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut today
Smoke billows from a house in Baalbek in east Lebanon after a reported explosion of a radio
It has been alleged that Mossad, working in collaboration with Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF), was behind yesterday’s pager attacks, with Hezbollah officials already laying blame for the latest attacks with Israel.
Officials in Jerusalem have thus far declined to comment on yesterday’s pager blasts, but Axios reports that two sources ‘with knowledge of the operation’ confirmed Israel’s involvement.
Weapons experts and regional analysts have suggested that Israeli intelligence would have been capable of staging the pager attacks.
It has been widely theorised that intelligence services could have infiltrated the supply chain to plant a small quantity of high explosives within the pagers before they were delivered to Lebanon in the spring.
These rigged devices were subsequently distributed to thousands of unsuspecting members across the political, military, operational and medical branches of Hezbollah before they were eventually detonated on Tuesday afternoon.
A Taiwanese pager maker has denied that it had produced the pager devices which exploded in the audacious attack.
Gold Apollo said the devices were made by under licence by a company called BAC, based in Hungary’s capital Budapest.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists ‘disaster management’ as one of her skills, is listed as the Chief Executive of the company. She has denied any involvement with the pagers.
A spokesperson for the government of Hungary today flatly denied that the pagers were assembled in the central European country.
Zoltan Kovacs, secretary of state for public diplomacy and relations of Hungary, said in a post to X: ‘Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary.
‘During further investigations, Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organisations.
‘To Hungary, this case poses no national security risk.’