Latest news on the war between Israel and Hamas: At least 300 injured in the second …

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that at least nine people had been killed and 300 injured by exploding electronic devices in several regions of the country.

The explosions came a day after an Israeli attack apparently on Hezbollah pagers killed at least 12 people and injured nearly 3,000.

Associated Press journalists reported multiple explosions at the site of the funeral of three Hezbollah members and a child in Beirut who were killed the day before by exploding pagers.

Hezbollah's Al Manar television station reported explosions in several areas of Lebanon, and a Hezbollah official told AP that the group's walkie-talkies exploded in Beirut. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire on a daily basis, almost escalating into open war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas's October 7 attack. The ministry makes no distinction between fighters and civilians in its count, but says that just over half of those killed were women and children. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 militants, but provides no evidence.

Here is the latest information:

Hezbollah says it is in a “new confrontation”

BEIRUT — Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah's executive council, said Wednesday that the militant group would respond to Tuesday's pager attack with a “special punishment.”

The group is in a “new confrontation with the enemy,” Safieddine said.

Hundreds of handheld radios exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon and parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, government and Hezbollah officials said. Officials pointed the finger at Israel, saying it appeared to be a sophisticated, long-range attack. The Israeli military declined to comment.

UN Human Rights Commissioner calls for investigation into pager attack

GENEVA – The UN human rights chief is calling for an independent investigation into the mass explosions caused by detonating pagers in Lebanon and Syria.

Volker Türk said in a statement on Wednesday that “the fear and terror that has been unleashed is profound” and called on world leaders to intervene “in defense of the right of all people to live in peace and security.”

Türk said the targeted attacks on thousands of people – whether civilians or members of armed groups – without knowing who possessed the explosives or where they were, constituted a violation of international law.

The statement gave no indication as to who might be responsible for Tuesday's explosions.

“The protection of civilians must be the top priority,” he said, referring to the deadly violence in the Middle East following the October 7 attacks in Israel. “De-escalation is more important today than ever.”

Israel claims to have foiled Hezbollah attack on official

TEL AVIV, Israel – Israeli police said an explosion in a Tel Aviv park last September targeted former Chief of General Staff and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon. No one was injured in the Sept. 15, 2023, attack. Authorities have attributed it to Hezbollah based on the type of explosives used, but have not provided further information.

Police said investigations into those involved in the blast revealed that Yaalon was the real target. The bomb was equipped with cameras that allowed the attackers to detonate it remotely when they saw their target approaching.

The announcement comes after police said they and Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency foiled a similar attack on Tuesday using the same type of explosives. The Shin Bet said in a statement it had found an explosive device equipped with a camera and a mechanism that would allow Lebanon's Hezbollah to activate it. It said the attack was expected to be carried out in the next few days.

The Shin Bet did not provide any evidence linking the bomb to Hezbollah, which has been fighting firefights with Israel along the Lebanese border since the Gaza war began. Authorities did not disclose where the bomb was found or identify the target of the foiled attack, but said the official had been notified.

Iran accuses the US and the West of supporting the pager attack

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the US and its allies of supporting the exploding pager attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.

Using “devices created for the benefit of humanity as a tool to murder and destroy” those who do not share the same views as the US, Israel and the West is “a sign of the collapse of humanity and the dominance of savagery and barbarism,” the president was quoted as saying on his website on Wednesday.

“The incident has once again shown that Western nations and Americans fully support the crimes, murders and blind assassinations of the Zionist regime in practice,” Pezeshkian added.

Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that Israel sees as its greatest threat. Many of the group's fighters were killed or wounded in Tuesday's explosions.

Iran has already sent a group of Iranian medics to Lebanon to help the victims of the explosions.

Death toll in Lebanon rises to 12, including 2 children

BEIRUT – Lebanon's health minister said the death toll from the attack on Hezbollah with an exploding pager had risen to 12 people, including two children and an unspecified number of health workers.

Health Minister Firas Abiad said two-thirds of the injured required hospitalization, adding that the scale of the incident was far greater than the thousands injured in the massive explosion at Beirut's port in 2020.

Most of the injured were in Beirut and its southern suburbs, he said.

The Israeli military says it has intercepted two suspicious drones

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military intercepted two suspicious drones approaching Israel from Lebanon and Iraq on Wednesday morning. A day earlier, pagers belonging to the militant group Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the apparently sophisticated long-range attack.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a drone launched from Lebanon over the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of northern Israel. Another drone launched from Iraq was intercepted by Israeli Air Force fighter jets. No injuries or damage were reported.

Israel also began deploying additional troops to its northern border with Lebanon to prepare for a possible retaliatory strike.

As a precautionary measure, the Israeli military has moved its 98th Division to the northern border, an official said. The division, which includes infantry, artillery and commando units, fought in Gaza until recently. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

On October 8, Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border into Israel, a day after a deadly Hamas attack in southern Israel sparked a massive Israeli counteroffensive and the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have traded almost daily attacks that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

According to military sources, 4 Israeli soldiers were killed and 5 injured in the southern Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM — Four soldiers were killed and five others wounded, three of them in serious condition, in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli military.

Tuesday's deaths came nearly a year after the start of the war in Gaza, sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack. The army did not provide a description of the circumstances, but Israeli media reported that the soldiers were killed by a hidden bomb that exploded in a building.

One of the four, Staff Sgt. Agam Naim, an army medic, was the first female soldier killed in combat in Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Despite months of heavy Israeli bombardment and ground operations that have destroyed vast areas and displaced much of the population, Hamas and other armed groups remain active throughout the area.

Israel says 346 of its soldiers have been killed since ground operations began last October. The military claims to have killed more than 17,000 militants, but has not provided evidence.

Gold Apollo says it authorized its brand on the pagers but did not manufacture them

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it had authorized its brand for the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria, but that they were manufactured by another company based in Budapest.

On Tuesday, pagers belonging to hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria. At least nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the apparently sophisticated long-range attack.

The AR-924 pagers used by the militants were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in the Hungarian capital, Gold Apollo said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“Under the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our trademark for product sales in certain regions, but the design and manufacture of the products are the sole responsibility of BAC,” the statement said.

Gold Apollo Chairman Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters on Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

Touted as “rugged,” the AR-924 pager contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once listed on Gold Apollo's website before they were apparently taken offline on Tuesday following the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters and was said to have a battery life of up to 85 days. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where power outages are common as the small Mediterranean nation has faced economic collapse for years. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than cell phones, making them more resilient in emergencies – one of the reasons many hospitals around the world still rely on them.