New wave of explosions hits walkie talkies in Lebanon

Walkie talkies used by the c paramilitary group simultaneously exploded throughout Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent continuation of the alleged Israeli sabotage operation that killed 12 people and wounded thousands on Tuesday.

The blasts were first reported by Lebanese media, with the National News Agency claiming that at least three people had been killed, and al-Hadath TV network reporting that at least 100 people were injured. A Lebanese security source told Reuters that the explosions affected handheld radios used by Hezbollah members, and took place in Beirut and throughout southern Lebanon, a region controlled by the paramilitary force.

At least one of the explosions took place at a funeral procession for four people who had been killed when their pagers exploded on Tuesday, Reuters reported. 

At least a dozen people were killed, including two children, and more than 3,000 were injured when their pagers – a low-tech and supposedly secure method of communication – spontaneously detonated on Tuesday. Lebanese security officials blamed Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, while US and Israeli sources told Axios that Mossad had indeed rigged the devices to explode several months ago.

Mossad planned to blow up the pagers in the event of an all-out war with Hezbollah, but decided to detonate them early in case the explosive charges were discovered, an American official told Axios.

The handheld radios that exploded on Wednesday were purchased in bulk at the same time as the pagers that detonated on Tuesday, a security source told Reuters.

Video footage posted on social media showed destroyed vehicles and fires burning at the apparent sites of Wednesday’s blasts.

Israel has destroyed thousands of personal radios in Lebanon, according to Axios.

The radios were purchased five months ago, reports Reuters. pic.twitter.com/XqCIqcwTM1

— Russian Market (@runews) September 18, 2024

Hezbollah has waged a low-intensity military campaign against Israel since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began bombing Gaza almost a year ago. The campaign, which Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says is aimed at tying up Israeli forces near the Israel-Lebanon border, has sparked fears of a full-scale war on several occasions, as was the case after Tuesday’s explosions.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it holds “the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.” The group fired a barrage of rockets at Israeli positions on Wednesday, several hours before its radios exploded.