iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Across the world's largest cities, WRI estimates the longest heatwave each year could last 16.3 days on average under a 1.5°C scenario, but 24.5 days at 3°C
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device explosions that killed 37
As Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks for the first time after the deadly blasts, Israeli fighter jets roared over Beirut, with sonic booms shaking buildings and sending residents scrambling for cover
Smoke and fire rise from the site of an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese border village of Mahmoudiyeh on September 19. — Photo: AFP
Israel said it pounded Lebanon's Hezbollah, just hours after the group's leader vowed retribution for deadly explosions that targeted its communication devices, killing 37 people and wounding thousands.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for the explosion of thousands of its operatives' pagers and radios in attacks that spanned two days this week. Israel has yet to comment on the attacks.
Speaking for the first time since the deadly device sabotage, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Thursday that Israel would face retribution.
Describing the attacks as a "massacre" and a possible "act of war", Nasrallah said Israel would face "just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not".
As he delivered his address, Israeli fighter jets roared over Beirut, their sonic booms shaking buildings and sending residents scrambling for cover.
Hours later, Israel's military said its jets hit "approximately 100 launchers and additional terrorist infrastructure sites, consisting of approximately 1,000 barrels" set to be fired immediately.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israel struck the south at least 52 times. It was one of the heaviest Israeli bombardments of south Lebanon since the border exchanges erupted last October.
Hezbollah meanwhile said it launched at least 17 attacks on military sites in northern Israel.
The device blasts and Thursday's barrage of air strikes came after Israel announced it was shifting its war objectives to its northern border with Lebanon where it has been trading fire with Hezbollah.
For nearly a year, Israel's firepower has been focused on Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, but its troops have also been engaged in near-daily exchanges with Hezbollah militants.
International mediators have repeatedly tried to avert a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah and staunch the regional fallout of the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah maintains its fight is in support of Hamas, and Nasrallah vowed the attacks on Israel will continue as long as the war in Gaza lasts.
The cross-border exchanges of fire have killed hundreds in Lebanon, most of them fighters, and dozens in Israel, including soldiers. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been forced to flee their homes.
Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: "Hezbollah will pay an increasing price" as Israel tries to "ensure the safe return" of its citizens to areas near the border.
"We are at the start of a new phase in the war," he said.
ALSO READ:
More news from World
The move aims at taming record immigration levels that pushed country's population past 41 million earlier this year
Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, and Dissanayake are the main contenders for the post
His visit to Cairo aimed to salvage stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the conflict
Hundreds of pagers belonging to the armed group exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others
Over a week ago, India had reported its first case in a man who had arrived from western Africa in Delhi
Government faces challenge of accelerating IMF reforms
Thailand reported three more deaths on Wednesday, taking the toll in the kingdom to 18, with a total of 537 fatalities now confirmed across the region