Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
The death toll from the walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon on Wednesday has risen to 25, with at least 608 wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, as fears mount of the war in Gaza expanding to Lebanon.
Those killed were all members of Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed group, which acknowledged the deaths in individual statements commemorating each person.
The attack came as Lebanon was reeling from pager explosions on Tuesday, which killed 12 people, including two children, and injured at least 2,750 others in a suspected Israeli attack on Hezbollah's communication devices. Hundreds suffered severe eye injuries or were blinded by the exploding pagers, western intelligence sources told The National.
In the span of two days, the two waves of device detonations killed 37 people and maimed countless others.
The walkie-talkie explosions were heard across Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon as funerals of the pager blast victims were being held on Wednesday afternoon, sending mourners into panic.
The unprecedented attacks, which have not been officially claimed by Israel, dealt a major blow to Hezbollah and pushed fears of all-out war to the highest level since the group began exchanging cross-border attacks with Israel on October 8, spurred by the war in Gaza.
Lebanon's civil aviation authority has banned all walkie-talkies and pagers on flights out of the country. Airlines are instructed to inform all departing passengers that the devices are banned on-board and cannot be carried in hand luggage or cargo, according to a Thursday circular published by state media. Any pagers or walkie-talkies found at the airport will be immediately confiscated, the authority added, saying the decision will come into effect immediately.
Hours after the explosions on Wednesday, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the military's focus would turn to Lebanon as Israel enters a “new phase” of war.
“We are opening a new phase in the war – it requires courage, determination and perseverance from us,” he said in a visit to an air force base.
Gen Ori Gordin, who leads the Israeli military’s northern command, said the army is “determined to change the security situation in the north as soon as possible”, and that troops are at “peak readiness”.
“We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated,” he said in a visit to troops holding drills simulating fighting in Lebanon, according to the army.
Cross-border fire continued on Thursday, with Israel striking several areas in southern Lebanon amid reports that eight Israelis were wounded in anti-tank missile fire. Hezbollah claimed it had targeted a military position in Misgav Am, causing deaths and injuries, though there was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
In Lebanon, civil defence teams said they carried out 211 rescue and relief missions on Wednesday alone, with firefighters called to 25 different sites hit by Israeli attacks. Paramedics responded to 28 reports of people wounded in Israeli shelling, state media said.
The method used to carry out the pager and walkie-talkie attacks is still not clear. According to The New York Times, Israeli intelligence planted explosives in about 5,000 pagers some months ago. Hezbollah switched to pagers as their main form of communication in recent months amid fears mobile phones posed a security threat.
Schools in Lebanon were closed on Wednesday following the first wave of attacks and are expected to reopen on Thursday, according to Education Minister Abbas Al Halabi, who told people “not to listen to rumours on social media”.
Tuesday's attacks, which overwhelmed Beirut's hospitals and prompted Iraq, Iran and Egypt to send medical aid, saw thousands of Hezbollah pagers explode across Beirut, southern Lebanon, and also in Damascus.
Iran's envoy to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, was among the wounded, and was reported by The New York Times to have lost an eye – a claim denied by the embassy.
A Taiwan-based firm, Gold Apollo, denied they manufactured the pagers, and said the devices were outsourced to BAC Consulting – a Budapest-based company with little online presence.
On Thursday, the Japanese company Icom, whose brand was seen on some of the walkie-talkies that exploded, said it had stopped manufacturing that model a decade ago.
“The IC-V82 is a hand-held radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago and, since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” it said on its website.
“The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company.”
It also said it had “strict” export controls and used only authorised distributors.
