Countries warn Israeli terror attack in Lebanon pushing region to brink of war

More condemnations pour in following the Israeli terrorist attack in Lebanon that caused simultaneous explosions in multiple locations and led to the death and injury of many people.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Wednesday that the deadly explosion of hundreds of Hezbollah members' pagers could be an omen of a wider conflict in West Asia.

Lebanon's top diplomat warned of the gravity of the attack, "because it comes after Israeli threats to expand the focus of the war with Lebanon, which would plunge the region into a larger cycle of violence, and signal a wider war." 

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said at least 12 people, including two children, had been killed in the Israeli terrorist attack.

He made the remarks in a press conference on Wednesday, saying that around 3,000 others were also injured in the aggression. The casualties include members of the resistance movement as well as civilians.

Similar explosions were reported across Lebanon on Wednesday, with the health ministry saying at least nine people were killed and more than 300 others wounded.

In the capital Amman, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Wednesday that Israel was pushing the whole West Asia to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts.

"We stand by Lebanon's security, sovereignty, stability, and the safety of its citizens. And we condemn any action that threatens Lebanon's security, sovereignty, independence and the safety of its citizens." 

He made the remarks after an Islamic and Arab ministerial contact group meeting in Amman to lobby for a Gaza ceasefire.

"About a year after this war, the international community failed to play its role, the Security Council failed to carry out its duties to maintain security and peace.

Israel continues to challenge the entire world and endanger the interests of the entire world because it is pushing towards a regional war that violates the credibility of international law and shows that there are double standards in the application of international law and international humanitarian law as a whole. Therefore it harms the whole international system." 

Separately, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in a press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that his country is in full solidarity with Lebanon following yesterday’s pager explosions attack, considering the incident an affront to Lebanese sovereignty.

Ending Israel’s aggression on Gaza through a ceasefire is paramount to deescalating tensions in the region, the minister said.

‘We call it terrorism’: Netizens react to mass pager explosions in Lebanon by Israel

Social media is abuzz with condemnation of pager explosions in Lebanon that have resulted in nearly 3,000 casualties in the latest terrorist act by Israel.

Syria has strongly also condemned the Israeli regime’s recent attack on Lebanon, saying the atrocity reflected the regime’s warlike and bloodthirsty nature.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Syrian foreign ministry denounced the “terrorist aggression and the new bloody crime committed by the Israeli occupation against civilians in Lebanon.”

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sadness over the deadly pager blasts in Lebanon in a phone call with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Erdogan said that Israel’s attempts to escalate its war on Gaza to the wider region was dangerous and that efforts to stop Israel would continue, the agency said.

Hezbollah members and civilians killed, wounded in Lebanon pager explosions

Thousands of Lebanese resistance movement members and civilians have been killed or wounded after pagers exploded in different locations across the country on Tuesday.

EU foreign affairs chief decries civilian casualties in Lebanon 

Josep Borrell said that the European Union wants to avert an all-out war because it would have “heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.”

“Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims.” 

“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,” Borrell said.

The Hezbollah resistance movement has also blamed Israel, promising to punish the regime. The group says it is investigating the causes of the simultaneous explosions. 

Hezbollah has vowed to continue anti-Israeli strikes in support of the Gaza Strip.

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