Source: ZeroHedge.com
Hezbollah is vowing retaliation against Israel, which it holds “fully responsible” for the pager explosion attacks that left at least 300 people in critical condition. The death toll has risen to 12, with two among these children who were in the vicinity of exploding pagers. Some blasts went off inside homes. The Lebanese government is concerned about ‘all-out war’ breaking out with Israel.
After about 4pm Beirut time on Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that it has begun its first cross-border attacks on Israeli military border posts since the pager explosions. This could be the beginning of major retaliatory operations which slide into a third Lebanese war.
At least 2,750 people total were injured in the Tuesday pager attacks, including some civilians, while some reports dubiously claimed as many as 4,000 were wounded when on Tuesday pager devices widely used by the Lebanese paramilitary group blew up after apparently being triggered by an external signal sent by Israeli intelligence.
It is being widely assumed that most of the dead and injured are Hezbollah operatives who rely on low-tech telecoms to evade Israeli intelligence from sweeping up cell communications.
The Lebanese health ministry in fresh Wednesday statements put the actual number of wounded between 2,750 and 2,800. The number in critical condition has been revised upward to at least 300 – many of these in intensive care. The wounded are being treated across one hundred hospitals.
Lebanon’s Minister of Health Firass Abiad has in a press conference identified that among the dozen killed were four medical staff, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.
In a press briefing in Beirut, Abiad also weighed on the conflicts in Gaza and in southern Lebanon, accusing Israel of “steering away from a diplomatic solution.” He added: “We have to be ready and alert.”
This has prompted EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to condemn the “indiscriminate” nature of the covert operation. “Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims.” Borrell said.
“I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region,” while also warning of all-out war which would have “heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.” The United Nations is also calling for accountability for the pager blasts….