Communication devices used by Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday afternoon across the country's south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 450, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The attack comes a day after exploding pagers killed 12 people in Lebanon and Syria, including two children, and injured around 2,800 others. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
- Communication devices used by Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday afternoon across the country's south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 450, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
- The attack came a day after exploding pagers killed 12 people in Lebanon and Syria, including two children, and injured around 2,800 others.
- Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday declared the start of a "new phase" of the war as the Israeli army turns its attention to the northern front with Lebanon.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday denied reports that the US had any knowledge or involvement in the Hezbollah pager attack. Blinken was in Egypt Wednesday on his 10th trip to the Middle East to try to secure a Gaza ceasefire deal.
- At least 41,252 Palestinians have been killed and 95,497 wounded in Israel's war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Yesterday's key developments:
- At least nine people were killed and 2,750 were wounded on Tuesday when pagers exploded across Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Hundreds of Hezbollah members were among the wounded, according to security sources.
- Hezbollah blamed Israel for the explosions, saying in a statement: "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression," and adding that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment".
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced an expansion of the country's war goals to include the return of northern residents who fled cross-border fire traded with Hamas ally Hezbollah.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, Reuters)
