Hezbollah’s leader condemned Israel following the pager explosions, saying “the enemy has crossed all red lines” and that the deadly attacks “deserve a response.”
Sonic booms from Israeli planes were heard over Beirut as the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, gave his speech, unleashing terror across the Lebanese capital.
A loud bang was heard on live television, with journalists on the ground reporting that the loud noise was followed by screams as panicked Lebanese residents braced for further escalation.
Lebanon, Hezbollah and its ally Iran have blamed Israel for two days of attacks on Hezbollah communications equipment that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, overwhelming Lebanese hospitals and wreaking bloody havoc on Hezbollah.
Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were likely carried out by its spy agency, the Mossad.
In his first speech since the clandestine attacks began on Tuesday, Nasrallah said more than 4,000 devices had been detonated with the intention of killing thousands of people.
“This could be called a declaration of war,” Nasrallah said. “We have received a very heavy blow, but this is the situation of war. Through this experience and its lessons, we will become stronger and more powerful.”
Hassan Nasrallah spoke this afternoon in his first speech since clandestine attacks began on Tuesday.
Nasrallah said the blasts “occurred in hospitals, pharmacies, markets, shops, houses and in cars” as well as in the streets “where there were many civilians along with women and children.”
“This is the scale of criminality,” he said. “What can we call this kind of criminal action? Is it a big operation? Is it a genocide? Is it a massacre?”
He said the death toll, which stands at 37 in total, could have been much higher but that not all pagers and radios had been distributed and not all fighters were with their communications devices when the explosions occurred.
Although senior officials, including Iran’s envoy to Beirut, were confirmed to have been injured in the blasts, Nasrallah insisted that senior Hezbollah members were not carrying the model of pager that exploded.
“What happened did not affect our command, control or infrastructure,” he added, but admitted it had been a major security breach.
During Nasrallah’s lengthy three-part speech, Israel announced it was continuing airstrikes against Lebanon, with warning sirens sounding in northern Israel indicating a possible airstrike.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the military “is currently attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in order to degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.”
He added that this was part of efforts to return displaced Israelis to their homes in the north, months after tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated from the area amid ongoing cross-border fighting.
Thousands of people were injured when communication devices exploded on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lebanon and Syria
A car burns in the streets of Lebanon after an explosion
The Israeli army evacuates the wounded by helicopter after an anti-tank missile was fired towards Israel from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, on September 19, 2024
In his speech today, Nasrallah vowed that displaced Israelis “will not be able to return” to their homes.
He said his group, which has been fighting Israel for 11 months, will not stop until the Gaza war ends, despite two days of explosions of deadly devices blamed on Israel.
“The Lebanese front will not stop until the aggression against Gaza stops” despite “all this blood shed,” he said.
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