Israel strikes Lebanon as Hezbollah says device blasts are ‘act of war’ – latest

Israel notified US defence secretary Lloyd Austin of a planned military operation in Lebanon on Tuesday, but provided no details, according to US officials. Hours later, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants mysteriously exploded, killing at least 37 people, including two children, and injuring around 3,000.

The pager explosions were part of a coordinated attack on Hezbollah members, many of whom were seriously wounded. The devices, rigged with small amounts of explosives, detonated in several areas with strong Hezbollah presence, including Beirut’s Dahieh suburb, southern Lebanon, and the Beqaa Valley near the Syrian border.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and Austin had multiple conversations throughout the week, fueling concerns of escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The US acknowledged being briefed after the initial attack but claimed surprise at the specifics of the operations. Notably, the US denied receiving advance warning of the second wave of attacks targeting walkie-talkie radios.

Taipei prosecutors grilled Gold Apollo president Hsu Ching-kuang late on Thursday over links to thousands of pagers used in blasts targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Mr Hsu denied manufacturing the devices, blaming Budapest-based BAC, which licenses Gold Apollo’s brand. However, destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters bore stickers and formatting consistent with Gold Apollo products.

Mr Hsu declined comment as he left the prosecutors’ office. A second individual, Teresa Wu of Apollo Systems Ltd, was also questioned. Mr Hsu said this week a person called Ms Teresa had been one of his contacts for the deal with Hungary-based firm BAC.

Company records show Apollo Systems was set up by Wu in April this year. It was not immediately clear what the relationship is between her company and BAC.

Taiwan’s government has said it is investigating what happened and police have made several visits to Hsu’s company, in a small, unassuming office in Taipei’s next door city of New Taipei.

The exploding device attacks in the Lebanon are “utterly despicable and extraordinarily dangerous”, the Taoiseach has said.

Simon Harris said the safety of Irish troops currently based in the country on UN missions was an “absolute priority” for the Government.

“There are basic rules around engagement, even in conflict, and at the very core is the idea that you don’t send explosive devices in among civilian populations and to watch explosions taking place in supermarkets,” he said.

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In Thursday’s late operation, Israel launched dozens of bombs across southern Lebanon, three Lebanese security sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli radio stations reported that dozens of fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets including around 100 rocket launchers.

Israel’s military did not confirm the shelling but said earlier it had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets, including rocket launchers and weapon depots in southern Lebanon.

In a TV address on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the device explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday “crossed all red lines”.

“The enemy went beyond all controls, laws and morals,” he said, adding the attacks “could be considered war crimes or a declaration of war.”

The small plastic box that beeped and flashed numbers was a lifeline to Laurie Dove in 1993. Pregnant with her first baby in a house beyond any town in rural Kansas, Dove used the little black device to keep in touch with her husband as he delivered medical supplies. He carried one too. They had a code.

“If I really needed something I would text ‘9-1-1.’ That meant anything from, ‘I’m going to labor right now’ to ‘I really need to get ahold of you,’” she recalls. “It was our version of texting. I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers. It was important.”

Beepers and all they symbolized — connection to each other or, in the 1980s, to drugs — went the way of answering machines decades ago when smartphones wiped them from popular culture. They resurfaced in tragic form Tuesday when thousands of sabotaged pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon, killing at least a dozen people and injuring thousands in a mysterious, multi-day attack as Israel declared a new phase of its war on Hezbollah.

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What kind of a mind, one wonders, dreams up such a macabre lark as this, an “exploding cigar” practical joke on a grand scale?

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The Foreign Secretary has expressed concern about “rising tensions and civilian casualties” in Lebanon amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel is reported to have carried out air strikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon as Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed to retaliate following this week’s attacks that targeted Lebanese militants with exploding pagers.

In a televised speech, Mr Nasrallah said the attacks, widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, had been a “severe blow” and claimed they had killed dozens, including children, and wounded thousands.

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US officials now believe that a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is not expected before the end of Joe Biden’s term in January, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The newspaper cited top-level officials in the White House, State Department and Pentagon without naming them.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said two weeks ago that 90 per cent of a ceasefire deal had been agreed upon while Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly said Washington has been working “around the clock” to get to an agreement.

The United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt have for months made attempts to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas but have failed to arrive at a final agreement.

The waves of remotely triggered explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah members in grocery stores, on streets and at a funeral procession this week made for an eerie and shocking spectacle.

Analysts said Hezbollah will be able to regroup militarily and find communications workarounds after the attack, but the psychological effects will likely run deep.

The explosions — widely blamed on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied involvement — killed at least 37 people, including two children, wounded more than 3,000 and deeply unsettled even Lebanese who have no Hezbollah affiliation.

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Israeli fighter jets have pounded Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past few hours, striking hundreds of rocket launcher barrels that were set to be used to immediately fire toward Israeli territory, the military said.

It said that since the afternoon fighter jets struck some 100 rocket launchers consisting of about 1,000 barrels.

“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will continue to operate to degrade the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s infrastructure and capabilities in order to defend the State of Israel,” the IDF said.