At least 14 killed, 450 wounded as new explosions hit Hezbollah ...
At least 14 people have been killed and 450 others injured in a series of fresh explosions targeting communications devices used by Hezbollah, Lebanon's health ministry says.
Witnesses said the detonations targeted hand-held radios used by the militant group.
One security source said the radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time that the pagers were bought.
Blasts have been seen across the south of the country and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Lebanon's state news agency reported that some home solar energy systems also exploded.
The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 30 ambulances were treating and evacuating the wounded in the country's south, the Bekaa region and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
At least one of the explosions took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for those killed the previous day, when thousands of pagers used by the group detonated.
Witnesses said one explosion happened shortly after a funeral began in Beirut for some of those killed in yesterday's pager blasts. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)
A Reuters reporter in Beirut's southern suburbs said he saw Hezbollah members frantically taking batteries out of any walkie-talkies that had not exploded, tossing the parts in metal barrels around them.
Images of the exploded walkie-talkies examined by Reuters showed an inside panel labeled "ICOM" and "made in Japan".
According to its website, ICOM is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company.
The company has said that production of several models of the ICOM hand-held radio have been discontinued, including the IC-V82, which appeared to closely match those in the images.
There was no immediate reply from ICOM to a Reuters request for comment.
Smoke poured from buildings after explosions thought to be linked to the detonations of Hezbollah communication devices across Beirut. (Social media via Reuters handout)
At least 12 people were killed and about 2,800 others injured following detonations across Lebanon and in Syria on Tuesday.
Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the pager attacks. Israel hasn't confirmed or denied involvement.
Earlier on Wednesday, local time, Hezbollah said it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets, the first such strikes since the pagers exploded.
The head of Hezbollah's executive council, Hashem Safieddine, said the militant group would respond to Tuesday's pager explosion attack with "special punishment", and it was now in a "new confrontation with the enemy".
Rockets fired from Lebanon on Wednesday sparked a fire in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel. (Reuters: Ayal Margolin)
Iran condemned both attacks and sent medical personnel to Lebanon to help the wounded.
"Iran strongly condemns yesterday's criminal explosion of communication devices and today's criminal explosion of walkie-talkies, which resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of Lebanese civilians," government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on X.
The Lebanese army undertook controlled explosions of some walkie-talkies in Beirut following the blasts. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir)
Earlier, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said whoever was responsible for the pager blasts "must be held to account".
"Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law," Mr Türk said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a "new phase" of the war with a focus on the northern front against Hezbollah.
Speaking to Israeli troops, he made no mention of the explosions but he praised the work of Israel's army and security agencies, saying "the results are very impressive."
He said that after months of war against Hamas militants in Gaza, "the centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces".
"We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance," he said.
Mr Gallant's made the comments as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with top security officials at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
In a later video statement, Mr Netanyahu reiterated his goal to return tens of thousands of displaced Israeli residents in the country's north to their homes.
"I have said it before: we will return to the citizens of the north to their homes in security and that's exactly what we are going to do," he said in the brief video statement, giving no further details.
