(NewsNation) — There are growing fears a wider regional conflict could start in the Middle East as Israel conducted airstrikes in Lebanon on Thursday.
Thursday’s airstrikes came as Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, gave a speech following two days of attacks in Lebanon this week. Pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, killing at least 37 people, including two children, and wounding 3,000. Nasrallah called the Israeli attacks “terrorism” and said they crossed a “red line.”
Israel has not taken responsibility nor denied a part in the device explosions, though the assault had the hallmarks of a Mossad operation.
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Democrats and Republicans were divided Thursday about Israel’s recent attacks and whether they could have an effect on negotiations in the Israel-Hamas war.
“I’m very, very troubled by the news about the recent strikes in Lebanon because I think it makes it much harder to find a hostage release in a cease-fire,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told NewsNation. “I’m also not happy about the fact that the U.S. was given no notice of this.”
Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., on the other hand, said, “You have to destroy terrorist organizations.”
“That’s the fastest way to get a peace deal,” Ricketts said in an interview.
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While the device explosions widely believed to be carried out by Israel reportedly targeted Hezbollah, there were also an enormous amount of civilian casualties, according to The Associated Press. Hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the device happened to be — in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called for calm, saying, “Even one civilian casualty is one too many.” Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement that those involved in the conflict need “to refrain from any further action, or bellicose rhetoric, which could trigger a wider conflagration that nobody can afford.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
