Coordinated explosions involving pager devices came as a shock to the Lebanese healthcare system, said the country's Health Minister Firas Abiad while reiterating the government's call for a ceasefire.
The death toll from the second wave of explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon on Wednesday rose to 14, with injuries up to 450.
Explosions were heard Wednesday afternoon in Beirut's southern suburb and several regions in southern and eastern Lebanon.
Security reports indicated that a wireless communication device exploded in Beirut's southern suburb during the funeral of four Hezbollah members, with similar explosions igniting fires in cars and residential buildings, resulting in several injuries. The explosions followed an attack a day ago, in which the Israeli military allegedly targeted pager batteries used by Hezbollah members, resulting in the deaths of 12 individuals, including two children, and approximately 2,800 injuries. Four of the victims were health sector workers, and more than 90 percent of the injured were treated in Lebanon, while some were transferred to Syria and even to Iran.
At a press conference, the minister stated that the first wave of attacks came unexpectedly, placing a significant burden on the emergency departments of many local hospitals.
"The fact that the size of the strike was very large, and unlike the port explosion, yesterday we had no warning, there was no big explosion, and suddenly the hospitals noticed that there was an influx of large numbers of wounded people to the emergency departments. Within half an hour, approximately 2,750 to 2,800 injured people came to the emergency departments, and we at the Ministry of Health received notifications from hospitals that some of them had 70 to 80 injured people very quickly," said Firas Abiad.
He emphasized that Lebanon has consistently called for a halt to the conflict.
"We as the Lebanese government have been saying from day one that we do not want war, and we call for a ceasefire agreement both in Gaza and Lebanon, and we have 4 health workers who were in hospitals in the southern suburbs and they were carrying a pager and it exploded on them, and unfortunately it led to their death," said the minister.
Lebanese hospitals ill-prepared for wave of injuries after pager explosions: health minister
Lebanese hospitals ill-prepared for wave of injuries after pager explosions: health minister
Lebanese hospitals ill-prepared for wave of injuries after pager explosions: health minister
Scholars and officials from around the globe have called on countries to reduce their dependency on U.S. dollar by diversifying reserve currencies in their baskets following the Federal Reserve's announcement of a 0.5-percentage-point interest rate cut.
The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed interest rates by 50 basis points amid cooling inflation and a weakening labor market, marking the first rate cut in over four years.
This signals the start of an easing cycle. Starting from March 2022, the Fed had raised rates consecutively for 11 times to combat inflation not seen in forty years, pushing the target range for the federal funds rate up to between 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent, the highest level in over two decades. As the dollar has become a financial weapon of the U.S., whether a tightening cycle or an easing cycle that the Fed kicks off, it would bring a lot of turmoil to the world economy, said the experts.
"I think the world has actually been hit a lot in the recent years by the appreciating U.S. dollar, which in recent times has reached all time high over 20 years. All time high, countries will have to spend more money to buy U.S. goods and services. It also affects the cost of borrowing from other businesses in the world. So, in the double way, I think the world has been hit. When suddenly, they want to lower the interest rate, the world is now actually caught in this very high level of frustration. Businesses just don't know what to do. So I think, in essence, what is very important, what is very important is that countries in the world will have to reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar, especially in Asia. We have to diversify their currency dependency, perhaps moving to Asian currencies, perhaps moving to a basket of currency that's less heavily weighed on the U.S. dollar," said Lawrence Loh, director of the Center for Governance and Sustainability at the National University of Singapore.
"The United States Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts, it brings shock to the economy, and especially developing countries that have been coming out from the COVID-19. For many years, the dollar has been weaponized by the United States against the developing nations, including Africa and all other developing countries. So therefore, that weaponization is what Africa must resist with alternatives to trade in our own local currencies," said Tshilidzi Bethuel Munyai, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa.
Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a professor of international relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, called on developing countries to enhance domestic markets and stabilize their economies as the Fed's interest rate cut may lead to a currency run.
"Following the Fed's interest rates cut, the U.S. economic growth will accelerate, which in turn will trigger a run on the currency. I think when the Fed cuts interest rates, it will trigger a run on the U.S. dollar. In this case, what they (developing countries) need to do is to strengthen the internal market and achieve economic stability by expanding domestic demand," he said.
Experts urge less dependence on USD to offset Fed interest rate cut
