Second Wave Of Explosions Hits Lebanon, Leaving 20 Dead And Stoking Fears of All-Out Israel-Hezbollah War

A second wave of blasts struck Hezbollah on Wednesday as thousands of radios and other devices used by the group detonated across Lebanon, killing at least 20 people and pushing Israel and Hezbollah to the brink of all-out war.

The series of blasts, which also wounded over 450 people, came a day after the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of paging devices used by Hezbollah killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others across Lebanon, in an unprecedented attack blamed on Israel.

There was no comment from Israel, which only hours before Tuesday’s attacks had announced it was broadening the aims of its war with Hamas in Gaza to include its fight against the Palestinian group’s ally Hezbollah. “The centre of gravity is moving northward,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday. “We are at the start of a new phase in the war.” Israeli officials have remained tight-lipped about the explosions that led the television news bulletins and dominated newspaper headlines.