EU’s Josep Borrell and Ireland’s Micheál Martin criticise attack, with Borrell saying it caused ‘heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages
LIVE Updated 10m ago
- Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin: pager detonation showed ‘wanton disregard’ for civilian lives in Lebanon
- EU’s Borell: pager detonations had ‘heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians’
- Lebanon’s health ministry: 460 people required surgery for injuries after pager detonations
- Hungarian entity that Taiwanese pager company said it authorised to produce and sell devices denies making them
- Egypt will not accept any changes to border security arrangements with Gaza
- Blinken: 15 out of 18 paragraphs of Gaza ceasefire proposal are agreed
- Blinken: US is still gathering the facts about Lebanon pager explosions
- Lebanon’s health minister: two children among 12 dead from pager explosions
- Lebanon preparing complaint to UN security council over pager detonations
- Russia: pager detonations in Lebanon deliberately designed to ‘provoke a major war’ in Middle East
- Antony Blinken arrives in Egypt
- Pager manufacturer says devices used by Hezbollah were ‘made in Europe’
- Hezbollah will continue operations in ‘support of Gaza’
- Welcome and summary
Martin Belam (now) and Jonathan Yerushalmy (earlier)Wed 18 Sep 2024 14.04 BSTShareShow key events only
From 20m ago
EU’s Borell: pager detonations had ‘heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians’
The EU’s top diplomat has described the pager detonations in Lebanon as “extremely worrying”, and said they had caused “heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians.”
In a statement, Josep Borrell said:
Following yesterday’s series of explosions in Lebanon, I called the Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He briefed me on the explosion of a high number of electronic devices in many areas across the country. Thousands of people were injured – hundreds in critical condition – hospitals are collapsing.
Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians: several children are 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.
The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.
Share
Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent at the Times of Israel, has reported that a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at western Galilee around an hour ago. According to the IDF, he wrote, the rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.Share
Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin: pager detonation showed ‘wanton disregard’ for civilian lives in Lebanon
Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin has said that the pager detonations in Lebanon showed a “wanton disregard” for the lives of civilians, and said it was a “logical conclusion” that Israeli forces were behind the incident. Israel has not claimed responsiblity for the attack, which injured nearly 3,000 people and killed at least 12 people, including two children.
The tánaiste said “The nature of the attack illustrates a wanton disregard for the lives of people because these pagers with explosives put into them went off in public areas and supermarkets and around people going out about their daily lives. It meant that many innocent civilians – men, women and children – were caught up in this.”
PA Media reports that asked if he considered it to be a breach of Geneva conventions rules on indiscriminate attacks, Martin replied: “In my view, yes, absolutely.”
Martin continued:
I would appeal to the Israeli Government to desist and not to engage in war in Lebanon and likewise to Hezbollah to desist and not to do anything to further escalate the situation. That kind of warfare and the creation of that terror in the midst of communities, commercial areas and normal human behaviour is unacceptable.
Earlier Ireland’s taoiseach Simon Harris said it was an “extraordinarily worrying development.”
He said:
What we have seen is significant explosions in civilian areas, including in a supermarket, and we’ve seen very distressing and upsetting scenes of civilians and children being caught up in the situation.
What the Middle East needs to see is de-escalation, not escalation, and as I get ready to go to the UN general assembly next week, that’s certainly the message that Ireland will be taking to that. We all must work to step back from the brink in terms of the Middle East.
Obviously a country’s rights to defend itself, a country’s rights to address terrorism, is a legitimate right, but when explosives are being detonated, civilians being impacted, and take place in locations with many many civilians, it’s extraordinarily concerning.
Share
EU’s Borell: pager detonations had ‘heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians’
The EU’s top diplomat has described the pager detonations in Lebanon as “extremely worrying”, and said they had caused “heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians.”
In a statement, Josep Borrell said:
Following yesterday’s series of explosions in Lebanon, I called the Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He briefed me on the explosion of a high number of electronic devices in many areas across the country. Thousands of people were injured – hundreds in critical condition – hospitals are collapsing.
Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians: several children are 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.
The European Union calls on all stakeholders to avert an all-out war, which would have heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.
Share
Support the Guardian
The scenes we are seeing unfold in Israel and Gaza mark a new chapter in the Middle East conflict. The consequences and scale of losses are already devastating, and the recent attack – and the war that now follows – is likely to shape global politics for years to come.
With correspondents on the ground and reporters updating this liveblog 24/7, the Guardian is well-placed to provide comprehensive, fact-checked reporting, to help all of us make sense of this perilous moment for the region. Reader-funded and free from commercial influence, we can report fearlessly on world events as they develop.
Lebanon’s health ministry: 460 people required surgery for injuries after pager detonations
Lebanon’s state national news agency reports that according to health ministry statistics among the near 3,000 people injured after the pager detonations yesterday, 1,800 people were hospitalised, and 460 required surgery for severe injuries.
Caretake health minister Firas Abiad said that while some patients are being evacuated to Syria and potentially Iran, 92% of cases will be treated within Lebanon.Share
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.Share
Hungarian entity that Taiwanese pager company said it authorised to produce and sell devices 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.”Share
Updated at 13.42 BST
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.https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/09/gaza_phili_corridor/giv-13425FTz4CnbFYcUH/Share
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”.Share
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.Share
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.”Share
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.Share
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.Share
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.Share
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.Share
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.”Share
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.Share
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.”Share
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.
Categories: Arab World, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East