Lebanon’s health minister: two children among 12 dead from pager explosions
The death toll from exploding pagers in Lebanon has risen to 12, and includes two children, Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
About 3,000 people, including civilians, are reported to have been injured by the wave of explosions that struck Lebanon yesterday. While there has been no official claim of responsibility, the attack, which appears to have been chiefly aimed at Hezbollah operatives, has been widely attributed to Israel.
Lebanon’s information minister Ziad Makary has said the country is preparing to put a complaint to the UN security council over the incident, which he called “a blatant attack on Lebanese sovereignty, that targeted civilians, not only Hezbollah members.”
Lebanon has received medical aid today from Iran, Iraq and Jordan, and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country rejects any attempts at escalation in the region, offering support to Lebanon. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed his sadness over the deadly pager blasts to Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati in a phone call. The Anadolu news agency reported that Erdoğan told Mikati that Israel’s attempts to spread conflicts in Gaza to the wider region were dangerous and that efforts to stop Israel would continue.
Russia’s foreign ministry has said the attack was “deliberately” designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East”, and spokesperson Maria Zakharova described it as “yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon which has harmed thousands of innocent people”, and demanded an investigation.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani described it as “terrorist operation … [that] contravenes all moral and human principles, international law, especially international humanitarian law, and warrants international criminal prosecution, trial, and punishment.”
Key events
Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty has said in a joint press conference with US secretary of state Antony Blinken that Hamas has confirmed to Egypt its full commitment to the ceasefire agreement that was agreed on 27 May and to the amendments made on 2 July.
Hungarian entity that Taiwanese pager company said it authorised to produce and sell pagers denies making them
Lili Bayer in Brussels and Michael Safi report for the Guardian:
The CEO of a Hungarian entity which a Taiwanese company said it had authorised to produce and sell pagers has denied making the devices, saying she was just an “intermediate.”
Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based company, said in a statement today that it had a partnership with the Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT, and had authorised BAC “to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC.”
“Regarding the AR-924 pager model mentioned in the recent media reports, we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC. Our company only provides the brand trademark authorization and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product,” it added.
BAC Consulting was registered in Hungary in 2022 and provided a Budapest address on its website – the same address used by multiple companies.
On its website, which was live early Wednesday but later became unavailable, BAC Consulting provided long yet vague descriptions of its work.
“With over a decade of consulting experience, we are on an exciting and rewarding journey with our network of passionate experts with a hunger for innovation and discovery for the Environment, Innovation & Development, and International Affairs,” according to the company’s LinkedIn page.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono presents herself on LinkedIn as the CEO of the company. Her LinkedIn page describes her as a native speaker of both Hungarian and Italian.
Bársony-Arcidiacono and BAC Consulting did not respond to questions from the Guardian. Reached by phone, Bársony-Arcidiacono asked how the paper got the number and then hung up.
However, she confirmed to NBC that her company worked with Gold Apollo.
Asked about the pagers and the explosions, Bársony-Arcidiacono said: “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
Asked about the Hungarian company, EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said at a press conference on Wednesday: “let’s not jump to conclusions at this stage.”
“The reasons and how it was done, how it was organised, needs to be investigated,” he said.
Asked about the CEO’s claim on LinkedIn that she also works for the European Commission, a spokesperson said “she is not a staff member, never been.”
Egypt will not accept any changes to border security arrangements with Gaza
Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty has ruled out his country accepting any changes to the agreed border security arrangements with Gaza, including the operation of the Rafah crossing.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu appears in recent weeks to have made continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a ribbon of land about nine miles (14km) in length and 100 metres wide along Gaza’s border with Egypt which includes the Rafah crossing, a condition of any ceasefire agreement. It was seized by Israel in May this year as its Gaza ground offensive pushed into Rafah.
Blinken: 15 out of 18 paragraphs of Gaza ceasefire proposal are agreed
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has stated that 15 out of 18 paragraphs of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas have been agreed, and insisted that progress on negotiations had been made during the last few weeks, despite there being no respite in Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, or any sign of the impending release of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas.
Speaking in Cairo, where he described Egypt as a critical partner in the ceasefire negotiations, Blinken said closing the gap on the last three paragraphs was a matter of “political will”.
Blinken: US is still gathering the facts about Lebanon pager explosions
Secretary of state Antony Blinken has said that the US did not know about the pager explosions in Lebanon in advance, and said his country was still gathering the facts about the blasts.
Speaking in a joint appearance in Cairo with Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, Blinken cautioned everyone in the region to avoid taking steps that could escalate the conflict.
Yesterday nearly 3,000 people were injured and 12 killed, including two children, by the detonation of pagers inside Lebanon. The attack, which appears to have been chiefly aimed at Hezbollah operatives, has been widely attributed to Israel. Israel has not claimed responsibility, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government seldom comments on Israeli operations carried out outside its borders.
Israeli media is reporting that Israel is deploying its 98th Division to the north of the country nearer to Lebanon.
It had previously been deployed to the Gaza Strip, fighting in Khan Younis until late August. Haaretz reports that the deployment is intended “to prevent a wide-scale attack” by Hezbollah in the north. The Lebanese-based group has threatened retaliation for the pager explosions in Lebanon yesterday which Hezbollah has attributed to Israel. The division is believed to have between 10,000 and 20,000 troops.
In another development, the Times of Israel reports that a planned memorial ceremony this evening for IDF soldiers which was due to have speeches by defense minister Yoav Gallant and chief of the IDF northern command Maj Gen Ori Gordin, has been postponed “in accordance with an assessment of the situation.”
A little more detail on the updated casualty count from the pager detonations in Lebanon, which officials say has now killed 12 people, including two children. Lebanon’s health ministry said 2750 to 2800 people were wounded, of which 300 people are said to be in a critical condition. This is higher than the earlier reported figure of 200.
Lebanese minister Nasser Yassin, who heads up the country’s disaster response committee, has said that yesterday’s pager explosions were “another severe test of our preparedness”, and praised the way that emergency services coped with the sudden influx of casualties.
Lebanon’s state news agency quoted Yassin saying that at an emegency meeting on Wednesday morning the committee “assessed the situation in light of the major Israeli aggression that targeted Lebanese civilians.”
Yassin added “We extend our condolences to the families of the martyrs and wish the wounded a speedy recovery.”
He said:
Yesterday, the health sector, medical teams, ambulance services, the civil defence, the Red Cross, and other emergency groups did a tremendous job. They demonstrated the importance of our country’s emergency preparedness. In a matter of minutes, nearly 3,000 injuries were treated in hospitals and ambulances. This was a remarkable achievement.
However, there were challenges, especially in transporting patients between hospitals, triaging the injured, and relocating them to other areas. There was also a shortage of ophthalmologists and eye surgeons. What happened yesterday was a real war, similar to what we experienced during the Beirut Port explosion. Yesterday’s attack was another severe test of our preparedness.
Yassin also said the committee discussed “potential scenarios in case the aggression expands, something we’ve been preparing for over recent months with regular updates to our contingency plans”. He said the country had food supplies for three months, and that 100 school locations had been identified as potential shelters.
In the UK the recently elected chair of parliament’s foreign affairs select committee has suggested that Israel’s allies need to be asking “What on earth are you doing?” after the pager detonation attack in Lebanon widely attributed to Israel.
PA Media in the UK quotes Emily Thornberry, a Labour MP, saying:
We are really concerned about what is happening now in Lebanon. I think the big question is: why? Why is this happening now? And what will the result of that be?
It seems to be yet another escalation of the conflict which is happening in the Middle East, which will affect all of us. And it is very worrying indeed, of course it is, and what the response will be? And is this the first step, and what will Israel do next? Is it part of a larger plan?
It is very worrying and I would certainly be expecting Israel’s friends to be speaking very seriously to them, and saying: ‘What on earth are you doing? Why is this happening now?’
The UK’s Foreign Office has said “We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time.”
The UK recommended its nationals leave Lebanon in August due to rising tensions in the region.
Israel is pushing the whole Middle East to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts, Reuters reports Jordan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
In remarks after an Islamic and Arab ministerial contact group meeting in Amman to lobby for a Gaza ceasefire, Ayman Safadi said peace would not prevail without a two-state solution. Safadi has kept the foreign ministry portfolio in a new Jordanian cabinet named today.
Lebanon’s health minister: two children among 12 dead from pager explosions
The death toll from exploding pagers in Lebanon has risen to 12, and includes two children, Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
About 3,000 people, including civilians, are reported to have been injured by the wave of explosions that struck Lebanon yesterday. While there has been no official claim of responsibility, the attack, which appears to have been chiefly aimed at Hezbollah operatives, has been widely attributed to Israel.
Lebanon’s information minister Ziad Makary has said the country is preparing to put a complaint to the UN security council over the incident, which he called “a blatant attack on Lebanese sovereignty, that targeted civilians, not only Hezbollah members.”
Lebanon has received medical aid today from Iran, Iraq and Jordan, and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country rejects any attempts at escalation in the region, offering support to Lebanon. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed his sadness over the deadly pager blasts to Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati in a phone call. The Anadolu news agency reported that Erdoğan told Mikati that Israel’s attempts to spread conflicts in Gaza to the wider region were dangerous and that efforts to stop Israel would continue.
Russia’s foreign ministry has said the attack was “deliberately” designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East”, and spokesperson Maria Zakharova described it as “yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon which has harmed thousands of innocent people”, and demanded an investigation.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani described it as “terrorist operation … [that] contravenes all moral and human principles, international law, especially international humanitarian law, and warrants international criminal prosecution, trial, and punishment.”
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conveyed his sadness over the deadly pager blasts in Lebanon to Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati in a phone call on Wednesday, Reuters reports Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency said.
Erdoğan also told Mikati in the call that Israel’s attempts to spread conflicts in Gaza to the wider region were dangerous and that efforts to stop Israel would continue, Anadolu added.
Lebanon preparing complaint to UN security council over pager detonations
Lebanon’s minister of information has said the country is preparing to take a complaint to the UN security council over the mass detonation of pagers yesterday which killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000 others.
Although there has been no official statement of responsibility, the attack has been widely attributed to Israel.
Lebanon’s state national news agency reports that Ziad Makary described the explosions as “a blatant attack on the Lebanese sovereignty, that targeted civilians, not only Hezbollah members.”
Makary said:
What we fear is not Hezbollah, but Israel’s criminality, whether in Gaza or Lebanon. Lebanon is preparing a complaint to submit to the UN security council, and the ambassadors of certain states concerned with this never-ending conflict between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy will be summoned. The enemy does not care about anybody, not even about the constant and public US pressures. US diplomacy must intensify its pressures on Israel before it does on Hezbollah and Lebanon.
In addition to an earlier statement by Russia’s foreign ministry that the detonation of pagers in Lebanon had been deliberately designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East”, the Kremlin has additionally said that the incident could become a trigger for a wider regional conflict.
Speaking in Moscow, Reuters reports Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the media “The causes and circumstances of the incident must be established and those behind it must be identified.”
According to a report in Tass, Peskov added “Of course, this should become a subject of study by specialists in order to take measures to eliminate similar risks here and in other places.”
In its latest operational update on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has said that in the last few hours it has intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed into Israel from the direction of Lebanon, and that Israeli fighter jets intercepted a UAV “that was approaching from Iraq”.
The claims have not been independently verified.