Pakistan says ‘terror’ attacks in Lebanon ‘manifestation of Israeli adventurism’
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the blasts in Lebanon, saying the “terror attacks” were a “manifestation of Israel’s alarming adventurism in the region, which has endangered regional peace and security”.
“Pakistan reaffirms its support to Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and calls upon the international community to take urgent steps to hold Israel to account on its acts of international terrorism and violations of international law,” ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.
Hezbollah chief Nasrallah expected to address attacks
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to speak at 5pm (14:00 GMT) today. In his highly anticipated speech, he is expected to address the pager and walkie-talkie attacks and how Hezbollah will respond.
Amid fear, Beirut residents trust Hezbollah to handle Israeli aggression
We have been talking to residents of Lebanon’s capital about the increasing tensions in the region following the pager and walkie-talkie attacks.
Sara Berjawi, a 20-year-old student, told Al Jazeera that she believes Israel was behind the attacks.
“Israel is showing off its power, but it is not going to reach any of its goals,” she said at a coffee shop in Beirut. She added that she would be watching Nasrallah later today when he speaks.
“I’m not a Hezbollah supporter, but I’m going to watch the speech,” Berjawi said. Hezbollah “is the only one taking care of the situation”.
Nasrallah speech aimed at ‘injecting tranquility’
Military analyst Elijah Magner says Nasrallah’s speech would be crucial in easing nerves following the device attacks of the past two days.
“Revealing what happened and exposing the reality behind in details, it will indicate really where was the lack of security and the breach and how that has been dealt with,” he told Al Jazeera.
“That will inject tranquility but this is not the end of it; people will be waiting to know what would be his intention afterwards and how he’s going to retaliate,” Magnier said, noting that both Hezbollah and Israel understand that the former’s communications system has not been compromised by the attacks.
“[They] did not blow up the Hezbollah wireless system and certainly not the wire system that 90 percent of Hezbollah communications system relies on,” the analyst continued.
‘That is the rule of the game’
Military and security analyst Elijah Magnier said that Hezbollah currently needs to respond to two kinds of attacks: first, against its fighters; and second, against noncombatants and civilians.
“Because the Israeli sabotage was indiscriminate against medical body personnel, civilians in their homes, solar systems owned by civilians, and did not hit only the combatants,” he told Al Jazeera.
“So this violation of the rules of engagement necessitates a similar response and an intelligence attack would be responded by a similar intelligence attack,” Magnier added.
“That is the rule of the game.”
