37 dead, 2,931 injured in 2 days of exploding-device attacks on Hezbollah

Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad speaks during a press conference in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024. (File/Reuters)
Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad speaks during a press conference in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024. (File/Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 19 September 2024
Follow

37 dead, 2,931 injured in 2 days of exploding-device attacks on Hezbollah

Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad speaks during a press conference in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024. (File/Reuters)
  • Group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah says mass bombing crossed a ‘red line’ and vows to retaliate against Israel
  • Paramedic tells Arab News about immediate aftermath of explosions, says medical supplies ran out due to sheer number of casualties

BEIRUT: The death toll in Lebanon caused by exploding communications devices used by members of Hezbollah has risen to 37, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Thursday. The number of people wounded stands at 2,931, he added.

The number of deaths during Wednesday’s second wave of attacks, when booby-trapped walkie-talkies detonated, rose to 25, and 608 injuries have been reported.

The number of people wounded in the first wave on Tuesday, when handheld paging devices exploded, has been revised downward to 2,323 following a review of the data, as a result of the transfer of patients between hospitals and duplication of names. Tuesday’s death toll remains at 12.

Dozens of the injured remain in intensive care, some of whom will require several surgeries.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the two-day mass bombing was a “severe blow” and accused Israeli authorities, who are blamed for the attack by Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, of crossing a “red line.”

But he said his group would continue its daily strikes on targets in northern Israel and vowed Israelis would not be able to return to their homes there until the war in Gaza ends.

As Nasrallah was speaking in a televised speech broadcast from a secret location, Hezbollah and the Israeli military exchanged fire across the border and at least two Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed.

Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut, breaking the sound barrier and prompting people in houses and offices to rush to open windows to prevent them from shattering.

A paramedic from Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Organization told Arab News about the immediate aftermath of the explosions.

“Several of the injured who were alone in their homes crawled to the doors of their apartments and called for help,” he said. “Others were reported injured by neighbors who heard explosions from nearby or opposite apartments and called for our assistance.

“Some injured individuals remained in locations unknown to us and they bled to death before their bodies were retrieved on Wednesday night.”

He added that first responders faced great challenges as a result of the sheer numbers of wounded patients requiring help.

“The pressure from the large number of injuries depleted the medical supplies we were provided, particularly IV fluids, and we ended up bandaging wounds on the ground before sending the injured to hospitals for further treatment,” the paramedic said.

“Ambulances themselves were not spared from the explosions of wireless devices inside them. Fortunately, the paramedics were outside the vehicles when they exploded.”

Following the explosions, special units of the Lebanese army were deployed to detonate suspicious devices. The army urged residents “to report any suspicious devices or objects and avoid approaching them.”

The Lebanese population was reeling in the aftermath of the explosions. Movement in the streets has decreased, and many political, social and sporting events were canceled amid fears of further attacks or all-out war.

However, members of Hezbollah and their supporters were busy organizing funerals for those killed in the attacks. In speeches, party leaders vowed “to retaliate against the Israeli enemy, who won’t expect when the strike will come or how painful it will be.”

An Iranian plane landed in Beirut on Wednesday night to take some of the wounded to Tehran for treatment, including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani.

Media reports in Beirut suggested that “when the pager carried by the Iranian diplomat exploded, he lost one of his eyes and the other was severely injured.”

In Tehran, it was reported that the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, visited wounded patients transferred to Tehran.

Independent MP Elias Jaradeh, who is also an eye surgeon, gave an emotional account of the extent of the eye injuries caused by the exploding devices, and the other traumas Lebanon has endured in recent years.

“The scene repeats itself since the Beirut port explosion (in 2020),” he said. “I wish this were the end of the tragedy. I saw part of Lebanon in the injured and as I tried to treat their eyes, I felt like I was repairing a part of Lebanon.”

Abiad, the health minister, praised “the medical and nursing staffs, as well as the administrations of private hospitals in Lebanon which, despite not yet receiving their financial dues from the state for treating victims of the Beirut port explosion four years ago, opened their doors without exception to the wounded Hezbollah members. Everyone worked for free, with dedication and humanity, to save lives.”

Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on “the UN Security Council to take a firm stand to stop the Israeli aggression and the technological war that Israel is waging against Lebanon, which has resulted in hundreds of martyrs and thousands of injuries.”

Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, received a telephone call from French President Emmanuel Macron, who offered his condolences and pledged France’s support to help Lebanon recover from the current situation.

Berri labeled the attacks “a clear war crime” and called on French authorities to “support Lebanon’s stance at the UN.” He also urged the wider international community to “press Israel to halt its aggression against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon before it’s too late.”

The Lebanese judiciary opened an investigation “into the serious security incident that left hundreds of Lebanese dead and wounded.”

A judicial source said: “Hezbollah doesn’t follow the legitimate procedures when importing its weapons and ammunition, meaning that the investigation should start from the moment the communication devices were bought, and cover their source and the way they arrived in Lebanon.”

As rumors about the possibility that other devices that use lithium batteries might explode, the Ministry of Communication reassured the public that properly imported “communication devices in Lebanon are safe and controlled before they enter the country.”

Hezbollah started to use less sophisticated, non-smart communication devices amid concerns that electronic surveillance by Israeli authorities had compromised cellphone networks in Lebanon, resulting in recent assassinations carried out by drone strikes.

In February, Nasrallah said: “Cellphones are spy devices and a killer agent, providing accurate and specific information” and so “confronting this issue requires great seriousness.”

Meanwhile, clashes continued along the southern Lebanese front as Hezbollah and the Israeli army exchanged fire. Israeli forces targeted areas on the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab and Ramiyah with phosphorus and smoke bombs, while warplanes carried out raids on the outskirts of Odaisseh and Kfarkila.

Hezbollah said it targeted “Israeli soldiers in the Al-Burj site with appropriate weapons, killing and injuring them.” It also fired on “the Hanita outpost with artillery shells” and launched “an aerial attack with a squadron of precision drones on the newly established headquarters of the Western Brigade in Yaara, hitting its targets accurately.”

The group said it carried out a similar attack “against the enemy’s artillery emplacements in Beit Hillel, targeting the positioning of commanders and soldiers and hitting them accurately.”


Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border
Updated 4 sec ago
Follow

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border
DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391
Updated 13 min 49 sec ago
Follow

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391
  • The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.


Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands
Updated 38 min 41 sec ago
Follow

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands
  • At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
  • Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps

ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.


Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
Updated 51 min 18 sec ago
Follow

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister
  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.


Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12
Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12
  • The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations

ANKARA: An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said. A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.
The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident, it said in a statement.
The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations, the company said.
The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”
Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli told private NTV television that the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery, which is one of Turkiye’s largest. Izmit is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul.
The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange temporarily halted trading of TUPRAS shares, until the company provides a detailed explanation of the incident.