Hezbollah chief Nasrallah blames Israel for Lebanon blasts, calls it ‘declaration of war’

A day after deadly pager and walkie-talkie attacks across Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave his first speech and calledthe attacks "a terrorist act" and that it was a "declaration of war" against the people of Lebanon and the country’s sovereignty.

The two waves of attacks with pagers and walkie-talkiesthat jolted Lebanon, killed 37 people, injuring 287 others, Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said.

Further calling the attack a "massacre", Nasrallah said that these two attacks in the past two days, prompted him to deliver this speech, adding that he was planning to present his analysis and report of one year of fighting on October 7, but what unfolded in the past 48 hours “demanded this message”.

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Israel crossed 'all red lines'

He said that the "Israeli enemy” had “crossed over all the red lines”in Lebanon.

The explosions happened in hospitals because some medics were carrying them, he said, adding that the blasts also occurred in pharmacies, hospitals, markets, shops, houses, cars, and in the streets, where many civilians were present.

He continued that Israel 'willfully' intended to kill thousands of people.

Israel started its attack by targeting paging devices, knowing that there were more than 4,000 of them in use, he claimed. Nasrallah alleged that these devices were donated and Israel tried to kill 4000 people simultaneously as well as those in their vicinity.

The Hezbollah chief said the group has been dealt a “very hard” blow, describing the attacks as “unprecedented” in Lebanon.

Nasrallah also blamed the United States and said that his group knows that Israel has a technological edge as it is backed by Washingtonand other tech superpowers.

“We cannot be broken by this blow, no matter how big or strong it is. And I can assure you faithfully and with confidence, this hard, unprecedented blow did not bring us to our knees – and it will not,” he said.

He promisedthat the group would become more robust, the Hezbollah leader said, “These are lessons to learn.”

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He further said that the group has formed several investigation committees examining various scenarios, adding that they will not jump to any conclusions.

However, even as Nasrallah was giving the speech, multiple huge sonic booms from Israeli jets were reportedly heard over Beirut.

Lebanon banswalkie-talkies, pagersfrom flights

Following the two-day attack, Lebanon authorities banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported.

The Lebanese civilian aviation directorate asked airlines operating from Beirut to tell passengers that walkie-talkies and pagers are banned until further notice. Moreover, such devices are also banned from being shipped by air, the Lebanese state news agency reported.

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(With inputs from agencies)