At least 20 people have died and more than 450 have been injured in a second wave of explosions caused by wireless communication devices in Lebanon, according to the health ministry.
Some of the blasts took place during funerals for some of the 12 people who the ministry said were killed when Hezbollah members’ pagers exploded on Tuesday, News.Az reports, citing BBC.Hezbollah blamed Israel for that attack. Israel has not commented.
The attacks came as Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "new phase in the war" and as an Israeli army division was redeployed to the north.
UN Secretary General António Guterres warned of the “serious risk of a dramatic escalation” and called on all parties to “exercise maximum restraint”.
"Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation," he told reporters.
