UK says civilian casualties following explosions in Lebanon 'deeply distressing'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Britain on Wednesday urged calm following pager explosions that killed at least 12 people and injured nearly 2,800 others in Lebanon.

In response to an Anadolu question, a Foreign Office spokesperson said that the UK continues to monitor the situation closely and that it is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region.

"The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time," said the spokesperson.

The pagers, wireless telecommunications devices, exploded Tuesday and Wednesday in several areas in Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, which Lebanese media suggested was an Israeli breach of the system.

Lebanese security sources said that Israel’s spy agency Mossad planted explosives inside the pagers used by Hezbollah members months before they exploded.

The wireless devices “were rigged with several grams of hard-to-detect explosives, placed in the battery in a way that ensures they can’t be detected by sensors or any explosive detection tools,” Mounir Shehada, the Lebanese government’s former coordinator with the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, told Anadolu.

Hadi Hachem, Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations, called the pager blasts an "aggression which rises to a war crime,” warning that it would exacerbate the conflict.

The pager blasts came amid mounting border escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Tel Aviv’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 41,000 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7.