By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – At least nine people were killed and about 2,750 wounded by exploding handheld pagers across Lebanon and Syria the Lebanese health minister has said.
Firass Abiad said that an eight-year-old girl was among those killed and that more than 200 people are in critical condition after the communication devices exploded on Tuesday, with injuries mainly reported to the face, hands, and stomach.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah blamed Israel for the spree of pager blasts, saying it will get “its fair punishment,” according to a statement released by the Iran-backed group, which has been exchanging almost daily cross-border fire with Israel for nearly a year. U.S. sources also said Israel was behind the attack on the Taiwan-made pagers.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the only way to return Israel’s northern residents was through “military action” during a meeting with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein.
The events come hours after Israel’s security cabinet made the safe return of 60,000 residents displaced in the north by Hezbollah attacks an official war goal.
“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” a statement from his office said.
“The security cabinet has updated the objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents of the north securely to their homes,” the prime minister’s office said. “Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.”
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Those tensions escalated Tuesday with witnesses seeing known Hezbollah members bleeding.
Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar, whose son Mahdi was reportedly killed Tuesday in the pager explosion in Lebanon, said: “This is a new Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The resistance will retaliate in a suitable way at a suitable time.”
The sons of two other senior officials were wounded, Hezbollah said.
Sources said they are the son of Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah and the son of senior security official Wafiq Safa.
With tensions increasing, the European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urged for more pressure on Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, warning that every day that passes without a deal risks the lives of hostages and civilians – as well as a regional war breaking out.
“The only thing I can say is that all actors involved have to continue putting pressure on both parties to reach this agreement,” Borrell told journalists in Dubai on Tuesday.
“Every day that the agreement is not being reached, it means more hostages will be retained, and more people will be killed. So it’s not a matter of waiting for tomorrow. Tomorrow is already too late.”
MANY KILLED
The EU diplomat was speaking just after news broke from Lebanon of at least nine people killed and nearly 2,800 others wounded by the pager explosions across the country.
Borrell said he would seek more information from Beirut but acknowledged it could escalate the already-boiling tensions in the region:
Indeed, there is the possibility of the war spilling over to Lebanon.
Lebanon’s state news agency said there were blasts in the southern suburbs of Beirut and several other areas.
Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV network also said many pagers had exploded without identifying those hurt.
Footage showed wounded men sitting or lying on floors and others being rushed to hospitals. There were also pictures of blasts in shops.
Hezbollah said it constituted the “biggest security breach yet” since hostilities with Israel escalated 11 months ago in parallel with the Gaza war.
That war was triggered by Hezbollah’s ally Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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