CAIRO: Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday condemned the “treacherous Israeli attacks” in Lebanon, which claimed several lives, including that of a child, and resulted in thousands of injuries.

Paging devices belonging to Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria exploded on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding up to 2,800 others.

Gamal Roshdy, the spokesman for Aboul Gheit, relayed the bloc chief’s warning about the repercussions of this “dangerous escalation against Lebanon and its people.”

He said that the attacks were compounded by irresponsible statements from Israeli leaders, who appeared intent on broadening the scope of the war on the southern Lebanon front, which could dangerously destabilize the entire region.

Aboul Gheit expressed his “unwavering solidarity with Lebanon, its people, and its government in the face of this blatant assault on the country’s sovereignty and security.”

He stressed the urgent need for the UN Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities by addressing and countering Israel’s “continued and reckless” threats to security and peace in the region.

Separately, Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign minister, called Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, and his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, in the aftermath of the pager blasts.

Abdelatty conveyed the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to affirm Egypt’s support for the security and stability of Lebanon and non-violation of its sovereignty by any external party.

El-Sisi offered to provide any possible support to “our brothers in Lebanon during these critical circumstances.”

During the calls, Abdelatty reiterated his warning against the threat of escalation and the danger of a full-fledged regional war.

He said that the developments in southern Lebanon were a clear indication that “the region is on a dangerous juncture due to irresponsible and ill-considered unilateral actions, which will lead to consequences that will cast a shadow over the stability of the entire region.”

Abdelatty emphasized the importance of preventing escalation, “which can be achieved through an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, halting the Israeli aggression in the West Bank, and expeditiously reaching a deal that guarantees the release of hostages and detainees, as well as full and unconditional access of humanitarian and medical aid into the strip.”

BEIRUT: Hand-held radios used by Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah detonated late on Wednesday afternoon across the country’s south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, a security source and a witness said.
At least one of the blasts took place near a funeral organized by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of pagers used by the group exploded across the country.
The group said on Wednesday it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike at its arch-foe since pager blasts wounded thousands of its members in Lebanon and raised the prospect of a wider Middle East war.
Israel’s spy agency Mossad, which has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil, planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.
The death toll rose to 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday. Tuesday’s attack wounded nearly 3,000 people, including many of the militant group’s fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
A Taiwanese pager maker denied that it had produced the pager devices which exploded in an audacious attack that raised the prospect of a full-scale war between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
Gold Apollo said the devices were made under license by a company called BAC, based in Hungary’s capital Budapest.
There was no immediate word on when Hezbollah had launched its latest rocket attack, but normally the group announces such strikes shortly after carrying them out, suggesting it fired at the Israeli artillery positions on Wednesday.
Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. The two sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October, fueling fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East to the brink of a regional war by orchestrating a dangerous escalation on many fronts.
“Hezbollah wants to avoid an all-out war. It still wants to avoid one. But given the scale, the impact on families, on civilians, there will be pressure for a stronger response,” said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said in a statement it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should await a response to the pager “massacre” which left fighters and others bloodied, hospitalized or dead.
One Hezbollah official said the detonation was the group’s “biggest security breach” in its history.
Footage from hospitals reviewed by Reuters showed men with various injuries, some to the face, some with missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pagers were likely worn.
The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters. It followed a series of assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas commanders and leaders blamed on Israel since the start of the Gaza war.