Gaza live: Several dead including Hezbollah commander after Israeli strike on southern Beirut

Hezbollah's chief Hassan Nasrallah said in his televised speech that his group has received "a severe blow" after the attacks that targeted thousands of communication devices used by the group.

But he said Hezbollah will be able to survive the attack.

"What is most important is that the strike doesn’t kill you, no matter how major it is," he said.

"It has not brought us down, and will not bring us down. We will be stronger."

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said in his first televised speech since the pager and walkie-talkie explosions that Israel intended to kill at least 5000 people on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"In one minute on Tuesday, the enemy intended to kill more than four thousand people, assuming they are Hezbollah youths," he said.

"This is separate from those who could be killed incidentally, around them." 

"This is their scale of criminality," he added.

"They wanted to kill at least five thousand humans in two minutes," he said, referring to the two waves of attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah offered condolences to those killed during blasts that targeted thousands of communication devices used by members of his group this week. 

He thanked health workers for their efforts in treating the wounded, despite the large number of casualties.

He described the blood donation campaign by members of the public as the "biggest in the history of Lebanon".

Nasrallah also thanked countries like Iraq, Iran, and Syria for sending relief planes or receiving the wounded in their hospitals.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is delivering a televised speech now, his first since the blasts that targeted thousands of communication devices used by members of his group in Lebanon this week.

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned attacks which targeted communication devices in Lebanon this week, saying whoever was behind them aimed "to spread terror in Lebanon".

"The indiscriminate method used is unacceptable due to the inevitable and heavy collateral damages among civilians, and the broader consequences for the entire population, including fear and terror, and the collapse of hospitals," Borrell said in statement published Thursday.

The Lebanese government on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, following the explosion of thousands of such devices in the country this week. 

The blasts have killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 3000 across the country, the health ministry said.

The UN child rights committee (CRC) on Thursday accused Israel of committing historically unprecedented violations against Palestinian children.

"The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history," Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chair of the CRC, told reporters.

"I don't think we have seen before, a violation that is so massive, as we’ve seen in Gaza. These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see," he said.

The committee, which monitors compliance of state parties to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, on Thursday released its findings on six states, including Israel, after a review during its latest session.

In its report, the committee said it was "greatly concerned about the high number of children in Gaza killed, maimed, injured, missing, displaced, orphaned and subjected to famine, malnutrition and disease, as a result of the state party’s indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks".

It urged Israel to "immediately cease the killing and injuring of Palestinian children in Gaza, to ensure safe and unrestricted humanitarian access to and within the Gaza Strip, and to allow entry of all construction materials necessary for Palestinian families to rebuild homes and civilian and public infrastructure".

A Turkish defence official told Reuters on Thursday that Ankara is currently reviewing the security of communication devices used by its armed forces following the explosion of handheld devices in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The official explained that the Turkish military only uses communications equipment produced locally, and that it has additional procedures if a third party is involved in the supply chain. 

"Whether in the operations we carry out, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and as with the Lebanon example, measures are reviewed and new measures are being developed as part of the lessons learned following each development," said the official, who spoke anonymously.

"In the context of this incident, we as the Defence Ministry are carrying out the necessary examinations," the official added.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has condemned the recent explosions in Lebanon, labeling the "terror attacks" a clear "manifestation of Israel’s alarming adventurism in the region, which threatens regional peace and security."

Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch emphasized, “Pakistan reaffirms its support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and urges the international community to take immediate action to hold Israel accountable for its acts of international terrorism and violations of international law.”

The UK government has been criticised by British NGOs for abstaining on a UN resolution demanding that Israel end its "unlawful presence" in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip within a year.

Britain was one of 43 countries to abstain on the resolution, alongside Australia, Canada, Germany, Ukraine and others. Only 14 countries, including Israel and the United States, voted against it - while 124 countries backed the resolution.

It also demanded the withdrawal of all Israeli forces and the removal of Israeli settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories.

Dr Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, told Middle East Eye that Britain's abstention "further marginalises it on the world stage when it comes to advancing justice in Palestine".

Read more: UK abstention on UN vote 'marginalises it on world stage', say NGOs

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad announced on Thursday that the death toll from Wednesday’s explosions attributed to Israel has increased to 25. The minister shared the update during a press conference, as the country continues to assess the aftermath of the blasts. 

Turkey has accused Israel of attempting to extend its Gaza conflict into Lebanon following a series of deadly explosions in Hezbollah strongholds.

“The escalation in the region is alarming,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Turkish news channel TRT.

“We see Israel gradually intensifying its attacks on Lebanon. These increasingly provocative operations have left Iran, Hezbollah, and their allies with no choice but to respond,” he said.

Fidan questioned Israel's intentions, asking, “Does Israel seek lasting peace, or is it using conventional war methods to eliminate all perceived threats? The current fanatic government in Israel appears to be pursuing a strategy aimed at eradicating all threats.”

Israeli authorities are investigating whether false “emergency warning” text messages were sent by actors linked to Iran, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

The text messages instructed thousands of Israelis to immediately enter bomb shelters. 

The Israeli army clarified that it was not responsible for the messages, which contained a misspelled Hebrew word for "safe room" and included a suspicious hyperlink.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, one of the most powerful Arab Shia figures in the Middle East, has left a lasting mark on modern Lebanon, the Arab-Israel conflict and the wider region.

Under Nasrallah, whose surname translates as "victory through God", Hezbollah has grown from a local armed movement to the largest political party in Lebanon’s recent history. 

In the 2018 parliamentary elections, Hezbollah won more than 340,000 preferential votes, the most for any party in Lebanon since independence. 

In October 2021, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah had 100,000 fighters, making it among the most powerful non-national armed organisations worldwide.

Read more: Who is Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah - and why does he matter?

Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has condemned allegations that some of the agency's staff in Gaza are operatives of armed groups like Hamas, calling them unfounded and dangerous.

Lazzarini stated on X that “too many” Unrwa staff have been killed in Gaza, amid a “barrage of misinformation and disinformation.” He emphasised that these claims lack evidence and put the lives of humanitarian workers at greater risk. 

“These dangerous accusations dehumanise aid workers, attempt to justify their deaths, and distract from the atrocities of this war,” Lazzarini added, while noting the vital role Unrwa plays as Gaza's largest aid provider.