Hezbollah pager explosions – latest: Device attacks in Lebanon kill 32 as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Labour of “sending mixed messages” over the UK’s support for Israel and of “undermining” his country’s right to self-defence.

The Israeli prime minister also told the Daily Mail that Sir Keir Starmer’s administration has been making “misguided” decisions and is “sending a horrible message” to Hamas.

It comes after the British government suspended around 30 of its 350 arms export licences to Israel amid fears they could be used to breach international humanitarian law relating to the treatment of Palestinian detainees and the supply of aid to Gaza.

Handheld radios used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday in a second wave of deadly blasts as Israel’s defence minister declared his country was entering a “new phase of war” on its northern border.

At least 20 people were killed and 450 injured by the detonations, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Chief international correspondent Bel Trew and Chris Stevenson report:

Israeli security services said they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting prominent people including the prime minister.

It said the person was a businessman with connections in Turkey who had attended at least two meetings in Iran to discuss the possibility of assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant or the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency.

The Israeli military launched air and artillery strikes on multiple targets in southern Lebanon overnight, targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah strongholds.

The strikes, confirmed by the Israeli military on Thursday, hit key locations including Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun, and Kfarkela.

A Hezbollah weapons storage facility in Khiam was also targeted.

Reports suggest Israeli civilians were injured by anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon, although officials have yet to confirm.

This latest escalation follows months of cross-border exchanges between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. On Wednesday, Hezbollah fired around 20 projectiles into Israel, with most intercepted by air defence systems.

The Golan Heights, a strategic area with key Israeli surveillance and air defence installations, was also targeted with around 10 missiles.Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border continue to spiral, sparking concerns of a broader conflict.

The handheld devices killed at least 12 people and injured 3,000 after they simultaneously detonated across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday afternoon in a suspected Israeli operation.

The Taiwanese company whose branding was on the technology claimed Budapest-based firm BAC Consultancy made the devices under a three-year brand licensing agreement.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian is set to meet European officials at the UN General Assembly in New York next week, marking a crucial test of whether the two sides can revive diplomatic efforts over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The talks will come amid high tensions in the Middle East, only made worse by the explosions of pagers and hand-held radios used by the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mr Pezeshkian’s visit, his first to the West since his election in July, takes place just six weeks before the US presidential election, which could see former president Donald Trump, a staunch opponent of compromise with Iran, return to office. According to three Iranian officials, Mr Pezeshkian will convey that “Tehran is open to diplomacy” but will not succumb to pressure.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than Mr Pezeshkian, holds the authority on Tehran’s nuclear and foreign policy. An Iranian official told Reuters, “Iran’s rulers believe that the tense standoff with the West over Iran’s nuclear programme should end… but through negotiations from a position of power, not pressure”.

World leaders are gearing up for a pivotal meeting at the United Nations next week, with over 130 leaders expected to attend.

The gathering comes at a critical time, as conflicts in the Middle East and Europe threaten to spread, and frustration mounts over the slow pace of efforts to resolve them. The wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan are expected to take centre stage, dominating the annual high-level UN General Assembly.

Diplomats and analysts are tempered in their expectations, warning that breakthroughs are unlikely.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has expressed concern that the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine are “stuck with no peaceful solutions in sight”.

The situation in the Middle East is further complicated by escalating tensions in Lebanon, where Hezbollah has accused Israel of carrying out a wave of deadly attacks.

“There is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that escalation,” Mr Guterres told reporters on Wednesday.

Gold Apollo founder and president Hsu Ching-Kuang said the devices were manufactured by BAC Consulting, a company based in Budapest, Hungary, licensed to use the Taiwanese brand.

“The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” Mr Hsu said.

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A series of explosions rocked southern Lebanon and Beirut on Wednesday, sparking chaos and panic in areas known to be Hezbollah strongholds.

The blasts have been attributed to exploding walkie-talkies, and came just a day after pager devices used by Hezbollah detonated across both Lebanon and Syria.

The walkie-talkie blasts, which occurred in the afternoon were reported across various suburbs of Beirut as well as in the southern city of Tyre.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of destruction, with vehicles on fire and smoke billowing from residential areas. Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem witnessed one car explode during a funeral in southern Lebanon, suggesting that the blast came from within the vehicle, rather than it being struck by a drone.

– Southern suburbs of Beirut, areas where Hezbollah is known to have a strong presence

– Residential areas and during a funeral procession in southern Lebanon