Device explosions 'cross all red lines' – Hezbollah chief

Tensions rise as Israel launches major strikes on Lebanon after two days of detonating group’s pagers and walkie-talkies

- COSETTE MOLIJN & BEL TREW

Hezbollah has accused Israel of crossing “all red lines” with its deadly detonation of walkie-talkies and pagers, as Israeli forces launched a fresh wave of strikes across Lebanon.

Sonic booms from low-flying Israeli jets shook the buildings in Beirut during a televised speech by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in which he warned this week’s unprecedented action “could be called a declaration of war”.

Israel has yet to confirm or deny it was behind the remote explosions which killed at least 37 people, including two children. More than 3,000 people were also wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry, whose top medics told The Independent that they were struggling to treat such a huge influx of critical injuries.

The events have pushed an already simmering region to the brink of full-scale war, with concerns the attack might be a precursor to an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon. “In this operation, the enemy violated all laws and red lines,” Nasrallah said, from an unknown location. “This type of killing, targeting and crime may be unprecedented in the world,” he added.

He said that thousands of pagers used by Iran-backed Hezbollah had been targeted simultaneously, with some of the explosions happening in hospitals, pharmacies, markets, shops and streets busy with civilians, women and children.

The threat of an all-out war between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel had spiked in the weeks before this unprecedented attack, after nearly a year of clashes sparked by the Israeli war against another Tehran ally, Hamas, in Gaza.

Nasrallah admitted the attacks “dealt a painful and severe blow” but would not deter Lebanon’s armed factions who “will not stop before an end to the aggression on Gaza”.

“What happened … will only increase our strength, determination and presence,” he added, warning his forces will strike back “from where [Israel] does not expect”.