Hezbollah says Israel crossed 'red lines' with pager blasts

STORY: The leader of the powerful Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon on Thursday blamed Israel for a stunning wave of deadly attacks that detonated thousands of electronic devices across the country.

In a speech broadcast from an undisclosed location, Hassan Nasrallah called the attack "unprecedented" in the militant group's history.

"...thousands of pagers were targeted by the Israeli enemy, and they were all detonated at the same time. The enemy violated, through this attack, all the regulations, laws, and red lines."

Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for attacks on Hezbollah's communications equipment that killed at least 37 people and wounded around 3,000.

Nasrallah acknowledged the attacks represented what he called a major security and military blow.

Dozens of funerals show the reach of the strike.

On Tuesday, pagers used by Hezbollah began exploding, seemingly detonated remotely.

A day later, hand-held radios began to explode, sometimes at funerals of those killed in the first wave.

On Thursday, the Lebanese army conducted what it said was the controlled demolition of a battery from inside a communications device.

Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency.

But as Nasrallah spoke, the roar of Israeli jets could be heard over Beirut. Sonic booms as the aircraft broke the sound barrier thundered over the city.

Israel said its warplanes struck southern Lebanon overnight. Hezbollah reported that airstrikes resumed in the border area in the afternoon.

:: October 10, 2023

The cross-border strikes between the combatants have escalated since Oct. 7 when Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of Hamas's attack on Israeli communities from Gaza.

:: August 25, 2024

Israel says its conflict with Hezbollah, like its war in Gaza against Hamas, is part of a wider regional confrontation with Iran, which sponsors both groups as well as armed movements in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

:: Qatar TV

The conflict has repeatedly threatened to spread. Iran has promised to hit back at Israel for what it says was an Israeli strike that killed a Hamas leader in Tehran.

Iranian state media reported the commander of the country's Revolutionary Guards told Hezbollah's Nasrallah that Israel will face "a crushing response from the axis of resistance" for its attack on the group's communications devices.