The meeting was requested by Algeria on behalf of the Arab states and coincides with warnings from UN Secretary-General António Guterres of “a serious risk of a dramatic escalation.”

“Obviously, the logic of detonating all those devices is to do it as a preventive attack before a major military operation,” the head of the organization warned on Wednesday, insisting on the need to do everything possible to avoid a major conflagration.

According to a preliminary investigation presented by the Lebanese Mission to the UN, the explosive devices were implanted in communication appliances before arriving in the country. The report pointed to Israel for planning and carrying out the attacks that detonated hundreds of pagers and portable radios by sending a signal.

Tensions rose on Thursday when several dozen Israeli bombings were reported in villages in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah confirmed 17 military operations against Israeli targets.

The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, described the use of electronic equipment that left thirty dead and thousands wounded in two days as a terrorist attack, and considered these actions a declaration of war.

The UN called for increased diplomatic efforts while closely monitoring the situation. “We continue to urge the parties to recommit to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability,” Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said yesterday.

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