A second wave of explosions from rigged devices detonated by Israel killed 20 people and wounded hundreds of others in Lebanon on Wednesday, stoking fears of an all-out war between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah. Hezbollah said walkie-talkies and other hand-held devices used by its members blew up in its Beirut stronghold, with state media reporting similar blasts in south and east Lebanon. AFPTV footage also showed people running for cover when an explosion went off during a funeral for Hezbollah militants in south Beirut in the afternoon. At a press briefing in Beirut, Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said that a total of at least 32 people have been killed and thousands injured in the back-to-back coordinated explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, a 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 attack blamed on Israel. There was no comment from Israel, but hours before Tuesday’s attacks it had announced it was broadening the aims of its war with Gaza to include its fight against Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon. Israeli officials have remained tight-lipped about the explosions, but Hezbollah said Israel was "fully responsible for this criminal aggression" and vowed revenge. Meanwhile, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib warned that the "blatant assault on Lebanon's sovereignty and security" was a dangerous development that could "signal a wider war".
