Hezbollah chief warns Israel of 'just punishment' after Lebanon explosions

Lebanon's Hezbollah chief has said that Israel will receive "just punishment" for communications device explosions that killed at least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 over two days.

Israel will face "tough retribution and just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not," Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday in his first speech since the blasts, adding that he would not give further details of the place, timing or nature of Hezbollah's response.

"The number of pagers carried by Hezbollah members is 4,000, which implies that Israel intentionally sought to kill 4,000 people," he said.

He also warned Israel that if it establishes a security belt on Lebanese territory, "it will turn into a trap and a hell."

Nasrallah added that multiple investigative commissions were formed to examine the circumstances of the explosions and they have reached a nearly definitive conclusion, but the Lebanese armed group is awaiting confirmation.

He noted that the severity of eye injuries from the explosions “has placed significant pressure on hospitals in Lebanon.”

Furthermore, Nasrallah pointed out that many of the explosions occurred in hospitals, markets, public roads and homes - areas predominantly inhabited by civilians, including children and women.

He emphasized that "the Lebanese front will not stop until the war on Gaza stops."

Nasrallah noted that senior Hezbollah leaders do not carry the type of pager devices that exploded on Tuesday, asserting that the resistance's structure "remains large and cohesive."

'Crushing response'

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami told the Hezbollah Chief that Israel will face "a crushing response from the axis of resistance", according to state media.

The "axis of resistance" refers to Iran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces.

"Such terrorist acts are undoubtedly the result of the Zionist regime's (Israel) despair and successive failures. This will soon be met with a crushing response from the axis of resistance and we will witness the destruction of this bloodthirsty and criminal regime," Salami said in his message to Nasrallah.

Nasrallah, in his speech, also said that the deadly attacks "crossed all red lines" and "could be called a declaration of war."

Nasrallah's speech coincided with the intensive flights of Israeli warplanes flying at low altitudes over the Lebanese capital, Beirut, breaking the sound barrier multiple times, witnesses said.

Lebanese residents, already on edge following this week's blasts across the country that the group blamed on Israel, were panicked fearing a major escalation.