People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon. (Image: REUTERS)
Israel said that the IDF will turn its attention to the northern front with Lebanon hours after blasts rocked Beirut.
Hashim Safi Al Din, the Hezbollah deputy secretary general, threatened a “unique and bloody vengeance” after a second wave of device explosions killed over nine people and wounded more than 100 in Hezbollah strongholds of Lebanon on Wednesday. Iranian and Lebanese news agencies claim that the number could be as high as 20.
“These attacks will certainly be uniquely punished; there will be a bloodily unique revenge,” he said.
“I won’t talk about this at length” because “tomorrow, the leader of Hezbollah will speak and all will be revealed. And we will be in a new situation and a new confrontation with this enemy,” he further added, according to Iran international.
“(The enemy) should know that we are not beaten, that we will not break, that we will not withdraw, and will not be influenced by what this enemy is doing,” he further added.
Lebanon is blaming Israel and its spy agency, Mossad, for the blasts. Israel has not commented on the blasts but Hezbollah said Israel was “fully responsible for this criminal aggression”.
A senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters that Israel’s spy agency Mossad planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, highlighting that it has a long history of sophisticated operations on foreign soil.
News agency AFP reported that walkie talkies were used to hide explosives while Reuters said that hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated.
The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time that the pagers were bought, said a security source.
The death toll from Tuesday’s blasts 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.
