We’re closing this blog now, but you can find our latest story here. Thanks very much for reading.
Summary of the day
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured as a result of the explosions on Wednesday, according to officials. A source in Hezbollah confirmed that walkie-talkies used by the group were targeted in the attack. Several solar power systems exploded in people’s homes across Lebanon, according to the National News Agency.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed in a brief statement on Wednesday to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, declared the start of a “new phase” of the war with a focus on the northern front. Gallant, speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, did not mention the explosions of devices in Lebanon but he praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, noting that the “results are very impressive”. The head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, said Israel has drawn up plans for additional action against Hezbollah and is ready to strike.
Wednesday’s explosions took place a day after more than 2,800 were injured and 12 killed by exploding pagers, including a 10-year-old girl. Here’s what we know about the attack on Tuesday.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for Tuesday’s attack. Hezbollah on Tuesday promised a “fair punishment” for the explosion. Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to give a speech on Thursday. Reports suggest Israel managed to place explosives in thousands of pagers bought by Hezbollah.
The US was not involved “in any way” in the wave of explosions that took place in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, the White House said. National security adviser John Kirby told reporters on that it was “too soon to know” if the explosions aimed at Hezbollah across recent days would have an impact on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. US military officials are reportedly re-examining how its forces are positioned in the region in case of retaliation. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said 15 out of 18 paragraphs of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas have been agreed, and insisted that progress on negotiations had been made during the last few weeks, despite there being no respite in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah said it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets on Wednesday in the first cross-border attack since the Tuesday pager blasts. An Israeli journalist said a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at western Galilee, causing no injuries.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, was “deeply alarmed” by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday. The UN security council will meet on Friday to discuss the wave of device explosions across Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said those responsible for the explosions “must be held to account”.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, described the pager detonations in Lebanon as “extremely worrying”, and said they had caused “heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians.”
An Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter in Gaza killed five people, Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday. It is the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced Palestinians. The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants.
Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, said on Wednesday as he condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, ruled out his country accepting any changes to the agreed border security arrangements with Gaza, including the operation of the Rafah crossing.
The UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly to direct Israel to leave the occupied Palestinian territories within a year, a symbolic step exposing Israel’s continued international isolation. The non-binding vote follows a historic advisory ruling in July by the international court of justice (ICJ) urging Israel to cease “its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible and stop all settlement activity there immediately”.
Germany denied any arms boycott to Israel after earlier reports it had halted new exports of weapons of war to Israel. Reuters reported that Berlin had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, citing a source close to the German economy ministry.
The US issued a new round of Iran sanctions on Wednesday targeting 12 individuals who it said were tied to Tehran’s “ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people,” including its “brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.”
US senator Bernie Sanders said he would file resolutions seeking to block the sale of more than $20bn (£15.1bn) in US arms sales to Israel, citing the toll on civilians of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
The US “cannot be “complicit in this humanitarian disaster,” Sanders wrote in a letter to Senate colleagues on Wednesday, AP reported.
Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate US and international law.
The action would force an eventual vote to block the arms sales to Israel, though majority passage is highly unlikely.
As we reported earlier, at least 20 people were killed and more than 450 others wounded in Wednesday’s explosions targeting walkie-talkies in cities across Lebanon, according to the latest figure by the country’s health ministry.
In addition, at least 12 people were killed and more than 2,800 others were injured by exploding pagers on Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria.
This means that so far 32 people have been confirmed killed and 3,250 wounded in the wave of explosions.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for either of the attacks, although its defence minister Yoav Gallant declared on Wednesday the start of a “new phase” of the war with a focus towards the northern front with Hezbollah.
Updated
Here is a screen grab showing a walkie-talkie that exploded inside a house in Baalbek, east Lebanon, earlier today.
Footage shot in the aftermath of the explosions showed destroyed devices bearing the brand Icom, a Japanese company.
The exploded radio devices appear to be a knockoff product and not made by Icom, a sales executive at the US subsidiary of the company said.
“I can guarantee you they were not our products,” they told Associated Press, adding that Icom introduced the V82 two-way radio model more than two decades ago and it has long since been discontinued.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN said his country will follow up on the “attack” against its ambassador in Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who was among those wounded in Tuesday’s pager attack.
In a letter reported by the Iranian state news agency, Amir Saeid Iravani accused the Israeli government of “criminal and terrorist attacks” that resulted in the deaths of at least 11 civilians and injured thousands more, including Amani, who he said “sustained injuries”.
“Undoubtedly, the Israeli regime bears full responsibility for such perpetration of such horrific crimes,” he wrote.
The Islamic Republic of Iran will duly follow up on the attack against its ambassador in Lebanon … and reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond to such a heinous crime and violation.
Death toll from walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon rises to 20 – health ministry
The Lebanese health ministry announced six additional deaths from Wednesday’s explosions targeting walkie-talkies across the country.
The latest death toll is now 20 with more than 450 people injured, the ministry said.
Updated
US military officials are re-examining how its forces are positioned in the Middle East region following the series of explosions aimed at Hezbollah in Lebanon in recent days.
The head of US air power in the region, Lt Gen Derek France, had been scheduled to hold a news conference in Maryland on Wednesday but cancelled to more closely monitor the situation after the pager attack on Tuesday, a US military official told Associated Press.
The official said the attack has prompted the US air force to reexamine how US forces are positioned in the region in case of retaliation.
Updated
Joe Biden will welcome the president of the United Arab Emirates, sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to the White House on Monday for talks on Gaza and Sudan.
The visit will be the first-ever by a UAE president to Washington, the White House’s spokesperson John Kirby told reporters today.
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will meet separately with the UAE leader.
Biden and Harris “will discuss with President Mohamed, obviously, the crisis in Gaza, the UAE’s essential role in addressing the humanitarian crisis there, and the crisis in Sudan”, Kirby said.
Updated
Germany denies reports it is halting new weapons export licences to Israel
Germany has denied any arms boycott to Israel after earlier reports it had halted new exports of weapons of war to Israel.
Reuters reported that Berlin had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, citing a source close to the German economy ministry.
Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth €326.5m (£275.1m), including military equipment and war weapons – marking a 10-fold increase from the previous year, the agency reported. However approvals have dropped this year, it said, with only €14.5m (£12.2m) granted from January to August.
“There is no German arms export boycott against Israel,” government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said after the Reuters story was published.
Updated
The detonation of walkie-talkies around Lebanon a day after scores of pagers used by Hezbollah officials blew up is a one-two punch that drives home the extent of Israel’s penetration of its Shia foe’s defences across its northern border.
It represents utter humiliation for Hezbollah that its security can be so effortlessly breached twice, and be shown incapable of protecting its own people.
Israel has not admitted responsibility for the blasts but there is little doubt around the region that this was an operation bearing the Mossad’s hallmarks.
The more difficult questions concern its purpose: do these attacks represent tactical surprise for its own sake, or are they part of a broader strategy, and where does that strategy lead? Is this a prelude to an all-out war in Lebanon, or a substitute for one?
Read the full analysis here:
Updated
The White House’s national security adviser, John Kirby, said it is “too soon to know” if the explosions aimed at Hezbollah across recent days will have an impact on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Kirby told reporters:
Sadly, we aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago, so it’s difficult to see any impact of these incidents, but I think it’s just too soon to know.
Updated
US 'not involved in any way' in Lebanon blasts, says White House
The White House’s national security communications 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 this afternoon.
Asked if he was concerned that the blasts could lead to an escalation, Kirby said:
We want to see the war end, and everything we’ve been doing since the beginning has been designed to prevent the conflict from escalating.
The US still believes that “there is a diplomatic path forward,” he said.
Updated
UN secretary general António Guterres has issued a statement in response to the blasts across the Middle East, saying:
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.
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.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 18, 2024
All actors must exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation.
Updated
Speaking to RT, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the Lebanon blasts a “heinous act of terrorism”.
Zakharova went on to add:
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.”
Such terror attacks carried out to put all Middle East in flames - Maria Zakharova on Lebanon blasts
— RT (@RT_com) September 18, 2024
Follow us on Odysee: https://t.co/gMbz1a2E5x pic.twitter.com/mDECbPR52z
Updated
US senator Bernie Sanders has introduced joint resolutions of disapproval that would block the sale of US weapons to Israel.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Sanders, who has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war on Gaza which has killed over 41,000 Palestinians in the last 11 months, said:
Sadly, and illegally, much of the carnage in Gaza has been carried out with US-provided military equipment. Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate US and international law.
The sales would reward [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extremist government, even as it continues to cause massive destruction in Gaza, undermine the prospects of a ceasefire deal that would secure the release of the hostages, and advance its effort to illegally annex the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s right-wing, extremist government is violating international & US law and has created a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 18, 2024
Today, I announced that I will file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to stop the sale of U.S. arms to Israel and end our complicity in this disaster. pic.twitter.com/mPZEVBlO44
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Lebanon where the latest walkie-talkie blasts – which Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed on Israel – have killed 14 people and injured at least 450 others:
Updated
The head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, said Israel has drawn up plans for additional action against Hezbollah and is ready to strike.
Israel has “many more capabilities” that have not been used yet in the fighting against Hezbollah, Halevi said on Wednesday in quotes carried by 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.
“At each stage, the price for Hezbollah needs to be high,” he added.
Updated
Death toll from latest Lebanon blasts rises to 14, more than 450 injured – health ministry
The death toll from the latest blast in Lebanon has risen from nine to 14 people, with more than 450 others wounded, the country’s health ministry said.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Explosions apparently targeting walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah have killed at least 14 people and wounded at least 450 in cities across Lebanon, a day after a wave of pager explosions killed a dozen people and injured thousands in an attack blamed on Israel.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least 14 people were killed and more than 450 injured as a result of the explosions on Wednesday, according to officials.
A source in Hezbollah confirmed that walkie-talkies used by the group were targeted in the attack.
Several solar power systems exploded in people’s homes across Lebanon, according to the National News Agency. At least one girl in the town of al-Zahrani, south Lebanon, was injured, it said.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed in a brief statement on Wednesday to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, declared the start of a “new phase” of the war with a focus on the northern front. Gallant, speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, did not mention the explosions of devices in Lebanon but he praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, noting that the “results are very impressive”.
Wednesday’s explosions took place a day after more than 2,800 were injured and 12 killed by exploding pagers, including a 10-year-old girl. Here’s what we know about the attack on Tuesday.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for Tuesday’s attack. Hezbollah on Tuesday promised a “fair punishment” for the explosion. Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to give a speech on Thursday. Reports suggest Israel managed to place explosives in thousands of pagers bought by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets on Wednesday in the first cross-border attack since the Tuesday pager blasts. An Israeli journalist said a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at western Galilee, causing no injuries.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is “deeply alarmed” by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday. The UN security council will meet on Friday to discuss the wave of device explosions across Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said those responsible for the explosions “must be held to account”.
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, described the pager detonations in Lebanon as “extremely worrying”, and said they had caused “heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians.”
An Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter in Gaza killed five people, Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday. It is the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced Palestinians. The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken said 15 out of 18 paragraphs of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas have been agreed, and insisted that progress on negotiations had been made during the last few weeks, despite there being no respite in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, or any sign of the impending release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, said on Wednesday as he condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, ruled out his country accepting any changes to the agreed border security arrangements with Gaza, including the operation of the Rafah crossing.
The UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly to direct Israel to leave the occupied Palestinian territories within a year, a symbolic step exposing Israel’s continued international isolation.
The US issued a new round of Iran sanctions on Wednesday targeting 12 individuals who it said were tied to Tehran’s “ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people,” including its “brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.”
Updated
Explosions apparently targeting walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah have killed at least nine people and wounded at least 300 in cities across Lebanon, a day after exploding pagers killed 12 people and injured more than 2,800 in an attack blamed on Israel.
Here’s our video report:
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, released a brief video statement in which he vowed to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes.
In the short video, Netanyahu said:
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 did not mention the blasts targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past two days.
As we reported earlier, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, on Wednesday declared the start of a “new phase” of the war with a focus on the northern front.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for either of the attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Updated
Israel denounced the UN general assembly resolution as “cynical” and “distorted” after UN members voted overwhelmingly to direct Israel to leave the occupied Palestinian territories within a year.
“This is what cynical international politics looks like,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said in a post on X.
He said the UN general assembly’s resolution “ignores reality, Israel’s security needs and terrorism against its citizens”, adding:
Israel rejects the distorted and disconnected from reality decision of the General Assembly and thanks the leading countries that did not join the march of folly that took place today in New York.
Updated
Condemnations of Israel by the UN general assembly are frequent, including two resolutions passed by comparable majorities since the conflict began on 7 October, but this latest move is the first since 1982 to advocate sanctions against Israel.
It arguably has additional force since it claims to be seeking to enforce an ICJ ruling. The resolution states:
Israel’s security concerns cannot override the principle of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force.
The latest resolution urges member states to end the import of products originating in the Israeli settlements and to stop the provision of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel “if it is reasonable to suspect that they may be used in the occupied Palestinian territory”.
Additionally, it requires the UN general secretary, António Guterres, to report within three months on what progress he had made in urging Israel to cooperate.
Updated
UN members back resolution directing Israel to leave occupied territories
In a symbolic step exposing Israel’s continued international isolation, the UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to direct Israel to leave the occupied Palestinian territories within a year.
The non-binding vote follows a historic advisory ruling in July by the international court of justice (ICJ) urging Israel to cease “its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible and stop all settlement activity there immediately”.
Wednesday’s resolution was passed by 124 votes to 14 with 43 abstentions, prompting applause across the general assembly chamber in New York.
A preliminary investigation has found hundreds of pagers that exploded across Lebanon had been booby-trapped, according to a report.
A security source told AFP:
Data indicates the devices were pre-programmed to detonate and contained explosive materials planted next to the battery.
Israeli officials notified the US that it was planning to carry out an operation in Lebanon on Tuesday but did not give any details on what they were planning, according to a report.
That included a call between the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Tuesday morning, CNN reported.
Tuesday’s explosions, which killed 12 people and wounded nearly 3,000 others, came as a shock to senior US officials including Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, who was travelling from Washington to Cairo.
On Wednesday, Blinken told reporters in Egypt that the US “did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents”.
Updated
Israel declares start of 'new phase' of war
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war with a focus on the northern front against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
Gallant, speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, did not mention the explosions of devices in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But he praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, noting that the “results are very impressive”, the Associated Press reported.
“The center of gravity is moving north. We are diverting forces, resources and energy toward the north,” Gallant said, according to the Times of Israel.
I believe that we are at the onset of a new phase in this war, and we need to adapt. We will need consistency over time, this war requires great courage, determination and perseverance.
From the Times of Israel’s Emanuel Fabian:
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel's focus has moved to the northern front as a "new phase" of the war is beginning.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 18, 2024
"The center of gravity is shifting to the north, by diverting resources and forces [there]. We are at the onset of a new phase in the war, it requires… pic.twitter.com/zJY6OjmG7A
Updated
UN chief calls for 'maximum restraint' after latest Lebanon attacks
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is “deeply alarmed” by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The UN chief’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said in a statement:
The secretary general urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation.
Guterres also urges the parties to “immediately return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability”, the statement said.
Updated
The UN security council will meet on Friday to discuss the wave of device explosions across Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.
The meeting was requested by Algeria on behalf of Arab states, according to Samuel Žbogar, the UN ambassador to Slovenia, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month.
Updated
Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without Palestinian state, says crown prince
Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, said on Wednesday as he condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people.
The crown prince was speaking at an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council, according to the state-run Al Arabiya news channel. He said:
The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that.
He emphasised that the Palestinian cause remains a top priority for Saudi Arabia, and expressed gratitude to the nations that have recognised the Palestinian state, Al Arabiya reported.
Updated
More than 30 ambulances have been deployed to “multiple explosions” in Lebanon’s south and east, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
In a post on X, it said 50 additional ambulances have been put on alert to support rescue and evacuation operations.
‼️‼️‼️‼️
— Lebanese Red Cross (@RedCrossLebanon) September 18, 2024
اكثر من ٣٠ سيارة اسعاف من #الصليب_الأحمر_اللبناني تشارك في اسعاف وإخلاء الجرحى من جراء تفجيرات متعددة في الجنوب، والبقاع و الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت.
‼️🚨🚑 ٥٠ سيارة اسعاف إضافية في جبل لبنان و بيروت تم وضعها في حالة تأهب لتساند في عمليات الإسعاف والإخلاء pic.twitter.com/1cDyaqioaC
Nine killed and more than 300 wounded in latest Lebanon blasts – health ministry
Nine people were killed and at least 300 injured as a result of the explosions targeting walkie-talkies across Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The ministry added that first responders had almost finished transferring people to hospitals.
Updated
Solar power systems exploded in homes across Lebanon – report
Several solar power systems exploded in people’s homes across Lebanon, according to the National News Agency, injuring at least one girl in the town of al-Zahrani in south Lebanon.
Pictures of exploded solar panels, fingerprint readers and other devices circulated through social media, though it was unclear if they blew up by themselves or were simply near walkie-talkies which blew up.
While paramedics rushed to evacuate wounded from affected areas, a group of men attacked a UN peacekeeping (Unifil) patrol transiting through the city of Tyre in south Lebanon.
A video showed men throwing stones at two Unifil armored personnel carriers on the side of one of the main thoroughfares in the southern Lebanese city.
Unifil spokesperson Andrea Teneti told the Guardian:
The situation is under control right now. The Lebanese armed forces intervened but this is a serious breach of our freedom of movements.
He added that no injuries occurred, just material damages.
Updated
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, held a briefing before news of the latest wave of device blasts across Lebanon on Wednesday that officials say has killed at least three people and wounded more than 100.
Guterres said it was “very important” that civilian objects should not be weaponised after 12 people were killed and up to 2,800 were wounded in Tuesday’s pager blasts.
The UN chief said the explosions on Tuesday confirmed “a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon”, and warned that “everything must be done” to avoid the escalation. He added:
What has happened is particularly serious, not only because of the number of victims that it caused, but because of the indications that exist that this was triggered, I would say, in advance of a normal way to trigger these things, because there was a risk of this being discovered.
Updated
According to Lebanon’s official news agency, home solar energy systems exploded in several areas of Beirut on Wednesday.
As my colleague William Christou reported earlier, a video shows a blast occurring while a funeral for Hezbollah fighter killed on Tuesday during the pager attacks takes place in the southern suburb of Beirut.
In the video, a blast occurs somewhere on a Hezbollah member’s body, knocking him to the ground and sending the crowd around him running.
Second round of mystery explosions in Beirut. Explosion during the funeral of Mahdi Ali Ammar who was eliminated by beeper yesterday.
— #EBluemountain1 🎗 (@EBluemountain1) September 18, 2024
Reports of over 100 injuries throughout Lebanon pic.twitter.com/1Od8OTTRQR
Hundreds wounded in latest Lebanon blasts – report
Hundreds of people were wounded in the latest blasts involving walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah on Wednesday, a security source told Reuters.
Many of the wounds were to the stomach and hands, the source said.
Updated
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) has reported that three people were wounded in the Bekaa region in the east of the country in the latest device blasts.
The Guardian has been unable to independently verify this.
Updated
Reuters reports that security sources have shared that dozens of people were injured by the new explosions in Lebanon on Wednesday.
We will bring you more details as they emerge.
Prior to reports of further explosions on Wednesday afternoon, UN secretary general António Guterres warned that pager blasts targeting militant group Hezbollah on Tuesday indicated “a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation”.
“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, according to Reuters.
The US issued a new round of Iran sanctions on Wednesday targeting 12 individuals who it said were tied to Tehran’s “ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people,” including its “brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.”
The sanctions, which come two years after the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amin in police custody, target members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian prison officials “and those responsible for lethal operations overseas,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement, reports Reuters.
Reuters are also reporting that the communication devices that exploded on Wednesday afternoon were handheld radios. The news agency cites a security source and witness for the information.
According to its sources, Reuters reports that at least one of the blasts heard took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of pagers used by the group detonated across Lebanon.
Updated
Second wave of explosions across Lebanon target Hezbollah walkie-talkies
Reporting from Beirut, William Christou writes:
Explosions targeting walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah have gone off in multiple cities across Lebanon, with initial reports of an unknown number of casualties.
A source in Hezbollah confirmed that walkie-talkies used by the group were targeted in the attack. A senior security source said that the explosions were “small in size”, similar to yesterday’s attacks.
The wide-ranging attack occurred just a day after more than 2,800 were injured and 12 killed by exploding pagers all over Lebanon. Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack, with the former promising a “fair punishment” for the explosion.
Pictures showed broken and singed communication devices amid scenes of destruction. The Guardian saw multiple pictures of an ICOM IC-V82 two-way radio that had seemingly exploded.
In a video, a member of Hezbollah in the southern suburb of Beirut is taking part in a funeral for fighters killed yesterday when a blast occurs somewhere on his body, knocking him to the ground and sending the crowd around him running.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for either of the two days’ attacks, but reporting suggests the country managed to place explosives in thousands of pagers bought by Hezbollah.
Updated
More blasts heard in Beirut a day after pager explosions
Reuters journalists in Beirut’s southern suburbs heard at least two contained blasts in separate parts of the suburbs on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the explosions but they came a day after pagers used by armed group Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon.
We will bring you more details as they emerge.
Updated
Israeli strike on school building kills 5 people, says Gaza's civil defence agency
Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Wednesday that an Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter killed five people, while the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Five martyrs and a number of wounded were recovered after the occupation targeted Ibn Al-Haytam school in the Shujaiya neighbourhood” of Gaza City, the agency said in a statement.
The Israeli military said the air force “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists” in a compound that “previously served as the ‘Ibn Al-Haytam’ school in the area of Gaza City”.
The military’s statement said Hamas fighters used the school “to plan and carry out terrorist activities against (Israeli) troops and the State of Israel”.
According to AFP, the military did not provide a death toll but said “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence”.
It is the latest in a series of Israeli strikes on school buildings housing displaced Palestinians.
On Saturday the civil defence agency said five people were killed in a strike on Gaza City’s Shuhada al-Zeitun school, which the Israeli military said was also used by Hamas militants.
Another strike on the UN-run Al-Jawni school in central Gaza on 11 September drew international outcry after the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said six of its staffers were among the 18 reported fatalities.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas of hiding in school buildings where many thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter – a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.
Updated
UN high commissioner for human rights demands accountability for Lebanon pager blasts
Those responsible for a deadly wave of explosions across Lebanon targeting paging devices used by members of the Hezbollah militant group “must be held to account”, the UN high commissioner for human rights said on Wednesday.
“Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law,” Volker Türk said in a statement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Updated
Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli military posts in first cross-border attack since pager blasts
Reuters is reporting that Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday that it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first cross-border attack since the Tuesday pager blasts.
Updated
Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent at the Times of Israel, has reported that a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at western Galilee around an hour ago. According to the IDF, he wrote, the rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.
Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin: pager detonation showed 'wanton disregard' for civilian lives in Lebanon
Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin has said that the pager detonations in Lebanon showed a “wanton disregard” for the lives of civilians, and said it was a “logical conclusion” that Israeli forces were behind the incident. Israel has not claimed responsiblity for the attack, which injured nearly 3,000 people and killed at least 12 people, including two children.
The tánaiste said “The nature of the attack illustrates a wanton disregard for the lives of people because these pagers with explosives put into them went off in public areas and supermarkets and around people going out about their daily lives. It meant that many innocent civilians – men, women and children – were caught up in this.”
PA Media reports that asked if he considered it to be a breach of Geneva conventions rules on indiscriminate attacks, Martin replied: “In my view, yes, absolutely.”
Martin continued:
I would appeal to the Israeli Government to desist and not to engage in war in Lebanon and likewise to Hezbollah to desist and not to do anything to further escalate the situation. That kind of warfare and the creation of that terror in the midst of communities, commercial areas and normal human behaviour is unacceptable.
Earlier Ireland’s taoiseach Simon Harris said it was an “extraordinarily worrying development.”
He said:
What we have seen is significant explosions in civilian areas, including in a supermarket, and we’ve seen very distressing and upsetting scenes of civilians and children being caught up in the situation.
What the Middle East needs to see is de-escalation, not escalation, and as I get ready to go to the UN general assembly next week, that’s certainly the message that Ireland will be taking to that. We all must work to step back from the brink in terms of the Middle East.
Obviously a country’s rights to defend itself, a country’s rights to address terrorism, is a legitimate right, but when explosives are being detonated, civilians being impacted, and take place in locations with many many civilians, it’s extraordinarily concerning.
EU's Borell: pager detonations had 'heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians'
The EU’s top diplomat has described the pager detonations in Lebanon as “extremely worrying”, and said they had caused “heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians.”
In a statement, Josep Borrell said:
Following yesterday’s series of explosions in Lebanon, I called the Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He briefed me on the explosion of a high number of electronic devices in many areas across the country. Thousands of people were injured – hundreds in critical condition – hospitals are collapsing.
Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians: several children are among the victims
I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region.
The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.
Lebanon's health ministry: 460 people required surgery for injuries after pager detonations
Lebanon’s state national news agency reports that according to health ministry statistics among the near 3,000 people injured after the pager detonations yesterday, 1,800 people were hospitalised, and 460 required surgery for severe injuries.
Caretake health minister Firas Abiad said that while some patients are being evacuated to Syria and potentially Iran, 92% of cases will be treated within Lebanon.
Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty has said in a joint press conference with US secretary of state Antony Blinken that Hamas has confirmed to Egypt its full commitment to the ceasefire agreement that was agreed on 27 May and to the amendments made on 2 July.
Hungarian entity that Taiwanese pager company said it authorised to produce and sell devices denies making them
Lili Bayer in Brussels and Michael Safi report for the Guardian:
The CEO of a Hungarian entity which a Taiwanese company said it had authorised to produce and sell pagers has denied making the devices, saying she was just an “intermediate.”
Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based company, said in a statement today that it had a partnership with the Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, and had authorised BAC “to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC.”
“Regarding the AR-924 pager model mentioned in the recent media reports, we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC. Our company only provides the brand trademark authorization and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product,” it added.
BAC Consulting was registered in Hungary in 2022 and provided a Budapest address on its website – the same address used by multiple companies.
On its website, which was live early Wednesday but later became unavailable, BAC Consulting provided long yet vague descriptions of its work.
“With over a decade of consulting experience, we are on an exciting and rewarding journey with our network of passionate experts with a hunger for innovation and discovery for the Environment, Innovation & Development, and International Affairs,” according to the company’s LinkedIn page.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono presents herself on LinkedIn as the CEO of the company. Her LinkedIn page describes her as a native speaker of both Hungarian and Italian.
Bársony-Arcidiacono and BAC Consulting did not respond to questions from the Guardian. Reached by phone, Bársony-Arcidiacono asked how the paper got the number and then hung up.
However, she confirmed to NBC that her company worked with Gold Apollo.
Asked about the pagers and the explosions, Bársony-Arcidiacono said: “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
Asked about the Hungarian company, EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said at a press conference on Wednesday: “let’s not jump to conclusions at this stage.”
“The reasons and how it was done, how it was organised, needs to be investigated,” he said.
Asked about the CEO’s claim on LinkedIn that she also works for the European Commission, a spokesperson said “she is not a staff member, never been.”
Updated
Egypt will not accept any changes to border security arrangements with Gaza
Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty has ruled out his country accepting any changes to the agreed border security arrangements with Gaza, including the operation of the Rafah crossing.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu appears in recent weeks to have made continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a ribbon of land about nine miles (14km) in length and 100 metres wide along Gaza’s border with Egypt which includes the Rafah crossing, a condition of any ceasefire agreement. It was seized by Israel in May this year as its Gaza ground offensive pushed into Rafah.
Blinken: 15 out of 18 paragraphs of Gaza ceasefire proposal are agreed
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has stated that 15 out of 18 paragraphs of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas have been agreed, and insisted that progress on negotiations had been made during the last few weeks, despite there being no respite in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, or any sign of the impending release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
Speaking in Cairo, where he described Egypt as a critical partner in the ceasefire negotiations, Blinken said closing the gap on the last three paragraphs was a matter of “political will”.
Blinken: US is still gathering the facts about Lebanon pager explosions
Secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that the US did not know about the pager explosions in Lebanon in advance, and said his country was still gathering the facts about the blasts.
Speaking in a joint appearance in Cairo with Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, Blinken cautioned everyone in the region to avoid taking steps that could escalate the conflict.
Yesterday nearly 3,000 people were injured and 12 killed, including two children, by the detonation of pagers inside Lebanon. The attack, which appears to have been chiefly aimed at Hezbollah operatives, has been widely attributed to Israel. Israel has not claimed responsibility, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government seldom comments on Israeli operations carried out outside its borders.
Israeli media is reporting that Israel is deploying its 98th Division to the north of the country nearer to Lebanon.
It had previously been deployed to the Gaza Strip, fighting in Khan Younis until late August. Haaretz reports that the deployment is intended “to prevent a wide-scale attack” by Hezbollah in the north. The Lebanese-based group has threatened retaliation for the pager explosions in Lebanon yesterday which Hezbollah has attributed to Israel. The division is believed to have between 10,000 and 20,000 troops.
In another development, the Times of Israel reports that a planned memorial ceremony this evening for IDF soldiers which was due to have speeches by defense minister Yoav Gallant and chief of the IDF northern command Maj Gen Ori Gordin, has been postponed “in accordance with an assessment of the situation.”
A little more detail on the updated casualty count from the pager detonations in Lebanon, which officials say has now killed 12 people, including two children. Lebanon’s health ministry said 2750 to 2800 people were wounded, of which 300 people are said to be in a critical condition. This is higher than the earlier reported figure of 200.
Lebanese minister Nasser Yassin, who heads up the country’s disaster response committee, has said that yesterday’s pager explosions were “another severe test of our preparedness”, and praised the way that emergency services coped with the sudden influx of casualties.
Lebanon’s state news agency quoted Yassin saying that at an emegency meeting on Wednesday morning the committee “assessed the situation in light of the major Israeli aggression that targeted Lebanese civilians.”
Yassin added “We extend our condolences to the families of the martyrs and wish the wounded a speedy recovery.”
He said:
Yesterday, the health sector, medical teams, ambulance services, the civil defence, the Red Cross, and other emergency groups did a tremendous job. They demonstrated the importance of our country’s emergency preparedness. In a matter of minutes, nearly 3,000 injuries were treated in hospitals and ambulances. This was a remarkable achievement.
However, there were challenges, especially in transporting patients between hospitals, triaging the injured, and relocating them to other areas. There was also a shortage of ophthalmologists and eye surgeons. What happened yesterday was a real war, similar to what we experienced during the Beirut Port explosion. Yesterday’s attack was another severe test of our preparedness.
Yassin also said the committee discussed “potential scenarios in case the aggression expands, something we’ve been preparing for over recent months with regular updates to our contingency plans”. He said the country had food supplies for three months, and that 100 school locations had been identified as potential shelters.
In the UK the recently elected chair of parliament’s foreign affairs select committee has suggested that Israel’s allies need to be asking “What on earth are you doing?” after the pager detonation attack in Lebanon widely attributed to Israel.
PA Media in the UK quotes Emily Thornberry, a Labour MP, saying:
We are really concerned about what is happening now in Lebanon. I think the big question is: why? Why is this happening now? And what will the result of that be?
It seems to be yet another escalation of the conflict which is happening in the Middle East, which will affect all of us. And it is very worrying indeed, of course it is, and what the response will be? And is this the first step, and what will Israel do next? Is it part of a larger plan?
It is very worrying and I would certainly be expecting Israel’s friends to be speaking very seriously to them, and saying: ‘What on earth are you doing? Why is this happening now?’
The UK’s Foreign Office has said “We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time.”
The UK recommended its nationals leave Lebanon in August due to rising tensions in the region.
Israel is pushing the whole Middle East to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts, Reuters reports Jordan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
In remarks after an Islamic and Arab ministerial contact group meeting in Amman to lobby for a Gaza ceasefire, Ayman Safadi said peace would not prevail without a two-state solution. Safadi has kept the foreign ministry portfolio in a new Jordanian cabinet named today.
Lebanon's health minister: two children among 12 dead from pager explosions
The death toll from exploding pagers in Lebanon has risen to 12, and includes two children, Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
About 3,000 people, including civilians, are reported to have been injured by the wave of explosions that struck Lebanon yesterday. While there has been no official claim of responsibility, the attack, which appears to have been chiefly aimed at Hezbollah operatives, has been widely attributed to Israel.
Lebanon’s information minister Ziad Makary has said the country is preparing to put a complaint to the UN security council over the incident, which he called “a blatant attack on Lebanese sovereignty, that targeted civilians, not only Hezbollah members.”
Lebanon has received medical aid today from Iran, Iraq and Jordan, and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country rejects any attempts at escalation in the region, offering support to Lebanon. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed his sadness over the deadly pager blasts to Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati in a phone call. The Anadolu news agency reported that Erdoğan told Mikati that Israel’s attempts to spread conflicts in Gaza to the wider region were dangerous and that efforts to stop Israel would continue.
Russia’s foreign ministry has said the attack was “deliberately” designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East”, and spokesperson Maria Zakharova described it as “yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon which has harmed thousands of innocent people”, and demanded an investigation.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani described it as “terrorist operation … [that] contravenes all moral and human principles, international law, especially international humanitarian law, and warrants international criminal prosecution, trial, and punishment.”
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed his sadness over the deadly pager blasts in Lebanon to Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati in a phone call on Wednesday, Reuters reports Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency said.
Erdoğan also told Mikati in the call that Israel’s attempts to spread conflicts in Gaza to the wider region were dangerous and that efforts to stop Israel would continue, Anadolu added.
Lebanon preparing complaint to UN security council over pager detonations
Lebanon’s minister of information has said the country is preparing to take a complaint to the UN security council over the mass detonation of pagers yesterday which killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000 others.
Although there has been no official statement of responsibility, the attack has been widely attributed to Israel.
Lebanon’s state national news agency reports that Ziad Makary described the explosions as “a blatant attack on the Lebanese sovereignty, that targeted civilians, not only Hezbollah members.”
Makary said:
What we fear is not Hezbollah, but Israel’s criminality, whether in Gaza or Lebanon. Lebanon is preparing a complaint to submit to the UN security council, and the ambassadors of certain states concerned with this never-ending conflict between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy will be summoned. The enemy does not care about anybody, not even about the constant and public US pressures. US diplomacy must intensify its pressures on Israel before it does on Hezbollah and Lebanon.
In addition to an earlier statement by Russia’s foreign ministry that the detonation of pagers in Lebanon had been deliberately designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East”, the Kremlin has additionally said that the incident could become a trigger for a wider regional conflict.
Speaking in Moscow, Reuters reports Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the media “The causes and circumstances of the incident must be established and those behind it must be identified.”
According to a report in Tass, Peskov added “Of course, this should become a subject of study by specialists in order to take measures to eliminate similar risks here and in other places.”
In its latest operational update on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has said that in the last few hours it has intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed into Israel from the direction of Lebanon, and that Israeli fighter jets intercepted a UAV “that was approaching from Iraq”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Russia: pager detonations in Lebanon deliberately designed to 'provoke a major war' in Middle East
Russia’s foreign ministry has said the attack on Lebanese group Hezbollah and others using exploding pagers was designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East”. The detonation of the devices has been widely attributed to Israel.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said in a statement:
We regard what happened as yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has harmed thousands of innocent people. It appears that the organisers of this high-tech attack deliberately sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation in order to provoke a major war in the Middle East.
Earlier Zakharova said that the incident should be investigated, and said that the international community should be paying close attention to the event.
At least nine people have been killed and nearly 3,000 wounded by the detonation of the pagers. Among the wounded was Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
Reuters reports that a statement from the Egyptian presidency said president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told visiting US secretary of state Antony Blinken that Egypt rejects any attempts at escalation in the region and that Egypt supports Lebanon after the pager blasts incident.
The funeral of Fatima Abdallah, the 10-year-old girl killed during the wave of pager detonations that struck Lebanon yesterday afternoon, has been taking place in the village of Saraain in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon.
The detonations have been widely attributed to Israel, although there has been no official confirmation from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which rarely comments on Israeli operations outside its borders. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 people were wounded in the blasts. About 200 of the wounded are reported to be in critical condition.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty have met in Cairo. Blinken earlier met with Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Blinken will head from Cairo to Paris on Thursday for a meeting with the foreign ministers of France, Italy and Britain to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine and other issues, Reuters reports a state department official said. Blinken will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron, the official said.
Blinken will not visit Israel on this trip to the Middle East, his tenth to the region since 7 October, and the first time he has not stopped in Tel Aviv as part of his intinerary.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, speaking in St Petersburg, has told the Russian media that “what happened [in Lebanon] yesterday requires an investigation and international attention to this issue.”
The IDF has reported on its official Telegram channel that warning sirens are sounding in northern Israel.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that medical crews have recovered ten bodies from areas north of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has claimed that on Tuesday its air force struck “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites in five different areas in southern Lebanon,” and that additionally IDF artillery “struck in several areas in southern Lebanon.”
In the statement the IDF said it “will continue to operate against the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in order to defend the state of Israel.”
Thousands of people in Israel and Lebanon have been displaced from their homes after months of Hezbollah and Israel exchanging fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates the countries.
The IDF’s claims have not been independently verified.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has condemned the pager detonations in Lebanon as a “terrorist operation”, which he described as “a form of mass killing” and a contravention of “international humanitarian law”.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency quotes Nasser Kanaani saying:
[Tuesday’s] terrorist operation in Lebanon was carried out as a continuation of the Zionist regime’s combined operations and their mercenary agents. It contravenes all moral and human principles, international law, especially international humanitarian law, and warrants international criminal prosecution, trial, and punishment.
This combined terrorist act, which is, in fact, a form of mass killing, once again clearly proves that the Zionist regime, in addition to committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people, has placed regional and international peace and security in serious jeopardy. Accordingly, confronting the regime’s terrorist actions and the threats arising from it is an evident necessity, and the international community must act promptly to combat the impunity of the Zionist criminal officials.
Iran’s government has promised support for Lebanon, and Al Jazeera reports that Iran’s Red Crescent has sent a medical delegation to Beirut to assist with the wounded. A shipment of medical aid from Iraq has also landed at Beirut International Airport. At least 200 of the nearly 3,000 people wounded in the attack are reported to be in critical condition.
Lebanon’s culture minister Judge Mohammad Wissam Al-Mortad has this morning issued a statement on social media, saying “In our struggle with the Israeli enemy, there are two truths: that its evil is limitless, and that our victory is undoubtedly coming. What [Israel] did yesterday provides evidence after evidence of its hostility to humanity, and of the resistance’s ability to stand firm on the road to victory. Israel’s days are numbered. May God have mercy on the martyrs, heal the wounded, and comfort the hearts.”
Local Palestinian media is reporting that a 17-year-old child has been killed by Israeli security forces near Ni’lin, west of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The claims have not been independently verified.
Overnight Israel’s military announced the deaths of four soldiers.
It takes the total number that Israel says have been killed in action since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza to 346.
The claims have not been independently verified, and it has not been possible for journalists to verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will give a speech on Thursday, Reuters reports the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
It follows pager detonations across Lebanon on Tuesday that killed nine people and injured about 3,000 others in what is widely regarded as an attack by Israel.
Major airlines Lufthansa and Air France have announced suspensions of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday as tensions in the region soared after pager explosions in Lebanon.
German group Lufthansa said it was suspending all flights to Tel Aviv and Iran’s capital Tehran while French airline Air France suspended flights to the Israeli city and the Lebanese capital Beirut.
“Due to the recent change in the security situation, the Lufthansa Group airlines have decided to suspend all connections to and from Tel Aviv (TLV) and Tehran (IKA) with immediate effect,” Lufthansa said in a statement.
“This applies up to and including 19 September,” it said.
“Due to the security situation at the destinations, Air France is suspending its connections from Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Beirut (Lebanon) and … Tel Aviv (Israel) until 19 September inclusive,” the French company said in statement sent to AFP.
Air France said it would “evaluate daily the situation” in the Middle East and insisted that “the safety of our customers and crews is the absolute priority”.
Antony Blinken arrives in Egypt
US secretary of state Antony Blinken reportedly landed in Cairo early Wednesday, as part of a planned trip to the region to attempt to secure an elusive ceasefire in Gaza.
On his 10th trip to the Middle East since the start of the war in Gaza nearly a year ago, Blinken will address negotiation efforts with Egyptian officials, according to the US state department. Those efforts were further complicated on Wednesday by the wave of pager blasts in Lebanon.
Blinken is expected to meet with Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and hold a press conference with foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, but will not be visiting Israel during this round of diplomacy.
US officials say privately that they do not expect any breakthroughs at Wednesday’s talks in Cairo, but Blinken’s visit will aim to keep up the pressure campaign for a deal between Israel and Hamas.
“He’ll be meeting with Egyptian officials about a number of things, but squarely on the agenda is how we get a proposal that we think would secure agreement from both parties,” said US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
After the wave of explosions across Lebanon, the influx of so many casualties has reportedly 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, a resident of the southern suburbs, requesting to be identified only by his first name.
The 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member was killed in east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley when his 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 wounded but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported.
In total, nine deaths have been reported with almost 3,000 injured.
Hezbollah is known for using pagers to communicate because, unlike mobile phones, they can evade location-tracking and monitoring from Israeli intelligence.
Yossi Melman, a co-author of Spies Against Armageddon, said “a lot of people in Hezbollah carried these pagers, not just top echelon commanders”.
However, a security breach of this scale is seen by experts as hugely embarrassing and damaging to morale in the militant groups morale. Those wounded in the attack include Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, according to reports.
“This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades,” said Jonathan Panikoff, the US government’s former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East.
Pager manufacturer says devices used by Hezbollah were 'made in Europe'
The Taiwanese manufacturer linked to pagers that exploded as part of a deadly attack against Hezbollah has said the devices were made by a company in Europe, as the militant group blamed Israel and vowed revenge attacks.
Images of the pagers emerged in the aftermath with stickers on the back appearing consistent with pagers made by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, according to analysis by Reuters.
On Wednesday, the company’s founder Hsu Ching-Kuang, denied it had made the pagers, saying they were manufactured by a company in Europe that had the right to use its brand. “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,’ he said. “We are a responsible company. This is very embarrassing,” he said.
Hezbollah will continue operations in 'support of Gaza'
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said early on Wednesday that it “will continue, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza”, after a deadly wave of exploding pagers killed nine and injured thousands.
“This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday,” the group said in a statement issued on Telegram.
Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, with the group pinning the blame for the blasts on Israel.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas’s 7 October attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along the country’s border with Lebanon.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
Hezbollah has said it “will continue” its operations to “support Gaza”, after a deadly wave of exploding pagers killed 9 people and wounded almost 3,000 more.
“This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday,” the group said in a statement issued on Telegram.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the unprecedented security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon. Israel’s military declined to comment on the blasts.
More on this in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
Among those killed on Tuesday was an 10-year-old girl, according to Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad. The latest casualty figures by officials include about 2,750 wounded, with most injuries to the face and hands. Those wounded include Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani.
Hezbollah fighters in Syria were also injured in the attack, with several reportedly being treated in hospitals in Damascus. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Saberin News reported that some guards in Syria had also been killed.
The pager explosions across Lebanon marked “an extremely concerning escalation,” the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said. The spokesperson for the secretary general of the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric, noted the “extremely volatile” context.
A Hezbollah official said the detonation of the pagers was the biggest security breach for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. The blasts appeared to exploit the low-tech pagers that Hezbollah has adopted in order to prevent the targeted assassinations of its members. Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said the country was bracing for a major retaliation by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel. “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” a statement said. The son of the Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar reportedly also died in the explosions, as did two sons of other prominent Hezbollah figures.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the blasts. The attack took place just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by the 7 October Hamas attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s health ministry put hospitals across the country on “maximum alert” and instructed citizens to distance themselves from wireless communication devices. Schools in Lebanon will close on Wednesday.
The US government said it “was not aware of this incident in advance”. The state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, told a briefing that Washington was not involved and did not know who was responsible. He added it was “too early to say” how it would affect Gaza ceasefire talks.
The Foreign Office has urged “calm heads and de-escalation”. An FCDO spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing.
