Israel and Lebanon came closer to all-out war on Thursday as the death toll rose to 37 from explosions involving a slew of Lebanese communication devices and Hezbollah’s leader vowed retribution.
About 3,000 people were injured in the blasts across the country, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad told a press conference in the capital Beirut.
Hundreds of pagers used by the Hezbollah militia simultaneously exploded on Tuesday and a second wave of communication devices – this time walkie-talkies – blew up on Wednesday.
Israel has not publicly admitted responsibility, but the country is widely assumed to be behind the coordinated detonations.
More serious injuries were reported after Wednesday’s attacks as the walkie-talkie devices are significantly larger than pagers, Abiad said.
Most of the dead and injured were Hezbollah members and their families, hospital sources said. Lebanese sources have said that the militia group had been badly hit.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the back-to-back blasts “a declaration of war.”
“There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and humanitarian blow, unprecedented in the history of our resistance and perhaps in the history of the conflict with the enemy,” he said.
He vowed, “in the name of the martyrs and the wounded, that the Lebanon front will not stop until the aggression against Gaza stops, regardless of the sacrifices.”
He said the blasts were “a major terrorist operation, an act of genocide, and a massacre,” and vowed punishment and retribution for an act of “unprecedented aggression.”
He also commented on Israel’s aim of returning people to the north, who have fled the area due to ongoing clashes.
“What you will do will increase the displacement of the displaced from the north and will eliminate the opportunity for their return,” the leader of the Iranian-backed militia said.
As Nasrallah was speaking, Israeli warplanes broke through the sound barrier over Beirut, creating sounds like a bomb blast, generating panic.
Iran flies ambassador, patients out of Lebanon
Earlier, Iran evacuated its ambassador from Lebanon and 95 patients who were injured in pager explosions, officials said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited the injured diplomat, Mojtaba Amani, at a hospital in Tehran on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Iran flew 95 victims out of Lebanon, most of whom suffered eye and hand injuries.
Hezbollah is Iran’s most important non-state ally.
Israeli army agrees on ‘continuation of war’ in north
In Israel, the Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi approved plans for “the continuation of the war” on the country’s northern front, where it has been engaged in confrontations with Hezbollah for months.
The army did not give further details in Thursday’s statement, merely saying Halevi “recently completed approval of plans for the northern arena.”
Two Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanese attack
Two Israeli soldiers, a 20-year-old soldier and a 43-year-old reservist, died in the north of the country due to Lebanese shelling, the army said.
The Times of Israel reported that the reservist was killed in the western Galilee region by an explosive-laden drone launched by Hezbollah.
The younger soldier was reportedly killed in an attack by Hezbollah with two anti-tank missiles on Israel’s northern border. Eight other soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, according to the report.
This brings the official tally of those killed in Israel in the border area with Lebanon since October 8 to 48, including both civilians and soldiers.
Some 600 people have been killed in Lebanon during that period, most of them Hezbollah fighters.
Clashes continued as four people suffered minor injuries due to an Israeli airstrike near the port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.
Reports: Lebanese rocket fire injures several in northern Israel
At least eight people in northern Israel were injured in rocket fire from Lebanon, according to Israeli media reports on Thursday.
One person was seriously injured, several media outlets reported.
The Israeli army said it had again attacked the Shiite organization’s positions in several places in Lebanon during the night, including at an arms depot. It also confirmed missiles had been fired from Lebanon towards Israel in the morning.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli army post and said there had been victims.
