LAST UPDATE | 22 hrs ago
ANOTHER ROUND OF explosions has rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut today, this time reportedly from bombs planted inside walkie talkies.
The Lebanese government said 20 people have been killed and hundreds wounded.
The explosions come a day after pagers held by members of Hezbollah exploded simultaneously, killing 12 people and injuring around 2,800. The group and its ally Iran have both blamed Israel for yesterday’s attacks.
A Lebanese official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said a preliminary investigation into yesterday’s explosions indicated that “the devices were pre-programmed to detonate and contained explosive materials planted next to the battery”.
Some of today’s blasts took place during funerals of those killed yesterday.
The explosions caused panic, according to an AFP photographer covering the funerals.
A source close to Hezbollah said walkie talkies used by group members exploded in its Beirut stronghold, with state media reporting similar blasts of pagers and “devices” in east and south Lebanon.
“A number of walkie talkies exploded in Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the source said, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers confirming devices had exploded inside two cars in the area.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said pagers and “devices” had also exploded in Hezbollah strongholds in the east and south, with AFP correspondents also reporting hearing explosions.
Watch as chaos breaks out at a funeral in southern Beirut, after walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members reportedly exploded.
— ITV News (@itvnews) September 18, 2024
The blast happened during the procession of coffins of an eight-year-old boy and three members of the militant group. pic.twitter.com/0vug5D4zGR
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem reported seeing some of the blasts in Lebanon today.
“I witnessed two explosions,” he said. “There was a car that exploded just behind us. At the same time, there was an explosion at another place.
“I’m currently in the middle of the street. There are a lot of ambulances, chaos everywhere.”
Another round of blasts in different areas around south Lebanon and Beirut southern suburb. Devices in cars, motorcycles, and people’s hand are exploding. pic.twitter.com/0Dn4QnWTag
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) September 18, 2024
In a post on X, Hashem said: “Devices in cars, motorcycles, and people’s hands are exploding.”
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel is “opening a new phase in the war”.
“The centre of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of forces and resources, in order to meet our goals – the return of the residents of the north to their homes after the change in the security situation.”
Ahead of yesterday’s explosions in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added the return of those displaced from northern Israel to his list of war aims for the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Those comments point to a widening of the conflict and a conflation of the war on Gaza with the cross-border fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The United States has called for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.
“We still don’t want to see an escalation of any kind. We don’t believe that the way to solve where we’re at in this crisis is by additional military operations at all,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“We still believe that the best way to prevent escalation, to prevent another front from opening up in Lebanon, is through diplomacy,” Kirby said.
The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the wave of explosions, a spokesperson for the Slovenian presidency of the council said.
The meeting, requested by council member Algeria, will be held at 3 pm (1900 GMT), the spokesperson said.
Today, UN human rights chief Volker Turk condemned yesterday’s attacks and said they were a violation of international law.
“Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today that civilian objects should not be weaponised.
“I think it’s very important that there is an effective control of civilian objects, not to weaponize civilian objects – that should be a rule that… governments should, be able to implement,” Guterres said at a briefing at UN headquarters.
In the opinion of The Journal’s Voices contributor Tom Clonan, yesterday’s explosions amounted to an act of terrorism.
“It is an extremely worrying development and flouts the international laws of armed conflict. It was in effect, a terrorist attack.”
Meanwhile, UN member states formally demanded in a non-binding resolution today an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months.
The text, which Israel has warned would fuel violence, is based on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice calling Israel’s occupation since 1967 “unlawful.”
There were 124 votes in favor, 14 against and a notable 43 abstentions.
The resolution – the first proposed by Palestine after gaining new rights this year – also calls on states “to take steps toward ceasing” arms provisions to Israel when there are “reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
#BREAKING
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) September 18, 2024
UN General Assembly ADOPTS resolution demanding that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and do so within 12 months
Voting result
In favor: 124
Against: 14
Abstain: 43 pic.twitter.com/hIwn7y6EY4
Israel denounced the resolution as “cynical” and “distorted”.
“This is what cynical international politics looks like”, ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said on X.
He said it was “a distorted decision that is disconnected from reality, encourages terrorism and harms the chances for peace”.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the kingdom would not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state.
He condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people.
“The kingdom will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” he said.
Responding to the resolution today, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said Israel must comply immediately by withdrawing its forces.
“Israel must also remove all settlers from the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and reverse its annexation, both in law and in practice,” she said.
“For decades Israel’s unlawful occupation has brought injustice, bloodshed and suffering to Palestinians on a mass scale. Over the past 11 months the systematic human rights violations that are a hallmark of Israel’s brutal occupation and system of apartheid have drastically intensified.”
She called on all other states to suspend aid to Israel.
“Pending an end to Israel’s occupation, third states must immediately stop all forms of aid or assistance that help maintain the unlawful occupation, including halting arms transfers to Israel and ceasing all trade with illegal settlements.
The Palestinian territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
With reporting from AFP
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