Hezbollah’s Nasrallah says Israel attacks on Lebanon an ‘act of war'

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah calls the pager and walkie-talkie attacks “a terrorist act” and a declaration of war against the people of Lebanon and the country’s sovereignty.

“The enemy transgressed all boundaries and red lines,” Nasrallah said in a widely anticipated speech Thursday evening local time about the attacks, which killed at least 37 people and injured nearly 3,000 when pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded simultaneously on Tuesday and Wednesday across Lebanon. The attacks were “a major assault on Lebanon, its security and sovereignty, a war crime — an act of war,” he added, and they dealt an “unprecedented blow” to Hezbollah and Lebanon.

As he spoke in a televised address, the rumble of planes and large sonic booms could be heard over the Lebanese capital. But Nasrallah also struck a note of defiance, saying the group’s operations would not stop until Israel ended its war in Gaza.

“They will face a severe reckoning and just retribution, whether they expect it or not,” Nasrallah said of Israel. The nature, size and location of any retaliatory attack would be kept secret, he said.

“Because we are in a delicate, sensitive and important battle,” he said.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad says the death toll from the two waves of attacks across the country has risen to 37 while 287 people are in a critical condition.

Nasrallah says the attacks did not shake Hezbollah’s faith, conviction or preparedness.

“On the contrary, this turned us more resolved, more robust and more adamant,” he said in translated remarks.

If Israel’s objective was to separate Hezbollah from what is taking place in Gaza, then that’s failed, he said. And if the goal was to drive a wedge among the Lebanese, that was also foiled, Nasrallah added.