Hezbollah leader accuses Israel of targeting ‘5,000 people in two minutes’ as he admits Lebanon blasts are ‘unprecedented blow’

Hezbollah’s leader has accused Israel of carrying out “massacres” with pager and walkie-talkie explosions, saying it wanted to kill “5,000 people in two minutes”.

Lebanon has blamed Israel for the blasts on Tuesday and Wednesday which have killed 37 and injured thousands.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the “unprecedented” explosions “could be called a declaration of war” as he accused Israel of “violating red lines”.

He said 4,000 pagers carried by Hezbollah members exploded in hospitals, shops, cars and streets “where many civilians were” on Tuesday.

A thousand walkie-talkies exploded the following day.

During Nasrallah’s speech, in which he called the blasts an “unprecedented blow” and a “test” for Hezbollah, Israeli jets flew over Beirut, triggering sonic booms which shook buildings.

Sky News’ International Correspondent John Sparks, who is in Lebanese capital and heard the sound, described it as an attempt to remind people of Israel’s presence and their military power.

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