Fourteen killed as walkie-talkies blow up in second wave of explosions in Lebanon

Israeli Defence Minister said his army is opening a new phase in the war with Hezbollah

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Fourteen people were killed and hundreds were injured in explosions involving handheld communication devices in Beirut and other Lebanese cities on Wednesday, just a day after pager blasts linked to Hezbollah members claimed 12 lives and injured thousands, sending shockwaves across the country.

A reporter for The National heard a loud explosion at the scene of a funeral of four of those killed in the Tuesday pager blasts. Some children were crying that a device had blown off someone’s hands, and an elderly woman crumpled on the ground, crying and screaming.

Lebanon's state-owned National News Agency reported that handheld communication devices exploded in various parts of the capital and other areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, killing at least 14 people and injuring 450, according to the health ministry.

The blasts occurred just a day after one of the largest attacks in Lebanon, which Hezbollah and Lebanese politicians have blamed on Israel. The simultaneous explosions of pagers, commonly used by members of the Iran-backed group to avoid surveillance, killed 12 people and injured around 2750 in different areas, overwhelming hospitals with the wounded.

Israel did not comment on the attacks, but the army chief said many capabilities have not yet been activated, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the war was entering a new stage, with the focus moving to the northern border area where more troops and resources were being transferred.

"We are opening a new phase in the war - it requires courage, determination and perseverance," he stressed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would "return the citizens of the north to their homes in security".

Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, during their funeral procession in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. AP

The militant group started an investigation into how Israel sabotaged a shipment of pagers used by its fighters, a security source said on Wednesday.

“A wide discussion started within the resistance to identify the source of the breach through which the enemy managed to infiltrate and carry out this massive operation,” the regional security source close to Hezbollah told The National. “It is a process that begins with how the enemy obtained information that secured access to the shipment of communication devices that exploded.”

The focus of the investigation indicates that the Iran-backed group believes Israeli intelligence agents intercepted the devices before they were delivered. The source stressed that the focus is also on knowing “what steps were taken to ensure that they reached the hands of the resistance fighters, what was the method of detonation, what are the losses and what's the impact on the resistance's operations”.

The Hezbollah strategy to avoid Israeli electronic surveillance by using pagers instead of more easily trackable mobile phones backfired when the devices simultaneously exploded. Most of the wounded received injuries to the eyes or hands, Public Health Minister Firas Al Abiad said in a press conference, and some of the injured will be transferred for treatment in Syria and Iran.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah will deliver a speech on Thursday evening, the group has confirmed, addressing “recent developments”.

'Massive security breach'

Several reports in Lebanese media, quoting security sources, said about 20 grams of explosives were hidden in each pager.

“This was a massive security breach,” said the source, without elaborating on the number of devices tampered with.

New round of hand-held device blasts hit Lebanon

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Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, was among the wounded in Tuesday's attack. The embassy in Beirut said the envoy suffered “superficial injuries” and is in good condition, while Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sources told The New York Times the ambassador lost an eye in the attack. The embassy later denied he was blinded.

As many as 5,000 devices may have been sabotaged months before the attack, the outlet reported, saying the pagers detonated after receiving a message purported to be from Hezbollah leadership.

Hospitals across Beirut were overwhelmed with casualties on Tuesday night, with survivors and relatives of the wounded describing “blood everywhere” and people missing limbs.

Medical workers and aid have been flown in from across the region, with Iraq sending shipments of medical supplies and offering to evacuate the wounded for medical treatment. Egypt and Syria have also pledged assistance, while Iranian Red Crescent teams arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to help treat the wounded.

Hezbollah has vowed Israel will receive “fair punishment” for the attack, which has not been publicly claimed by its neighbour.

On Wednesday morning, it referred to Israel as a “criminal enemy” that face a “difficult reckoning for its massacre on Tuesday … this is another reckoning that will come, God willing.” Hamas expressed “complete solidarity” with its ally and commending “their insistence on supporting our Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Ali Ammar, a Hezbollah member of parliament, accepts condolences for his son who was killed in one of thousands of pager blasts that has been blamed on Israel. Reuters

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has also blamed Israel for the explosions.

While reports suggest the pagers were manufactured by the Taiwan-based Gold Apollo Company, a representative denied the devices were theirs, saying they were made by a Budapest-based company licensed to use their brand.

The website of the Hungarian company – named as BAC Consulting – was inaccessible on Wednesday.

The security breach came at a time of heightened tension between Lebanon and Israel, with Israel's cabinet said to be readying to launch a full-scale offensive on its northern neighbour.

Pagers exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday evening

It also came a day after US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel in an effort to ease tensions, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a “fundamental change” was needed on the border, followed by reports he is planning to replace Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over his reluctance to invade Lebanon.

Mr Hochstein was given “no hint” of the pager attacks during his visit to Israel, a US official told Axios.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called US Defence Minister Lloyd Austin just minutes before the explosion, another official told the outlet, saying Israel would “soon” launch an operation in Lebanon.

The operation was carried out on Tuesday amid fears Hezbollah had already caught wind of the plot, Axios reported.

“It was a use-it-or-lose-it moment,” one US official said, describing the reasoning Israel gave the US for the timing of the attack. Washington has publicly denied knowledge of the attack.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed about 630 people, mostly militants but also at least 142 civilians, according to an AFP tally. Hezbollah announced the death of five more members on Wednesday morning, although it gave no details on the circumstances of how they were killed.

Air strikes were also reported in the southern town of Khiam, with heavy gunfire targeting Jabal Al Labouneh and flares fired overnight at border villages on the Blue Line.

Hours before Tuesday's attack, Israel said it had foiled a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former security official. The Shin Bet intelligence service said a Hezbollah network linked to a September 2023 bombing in Tel Aviv's Yarkon park planned to remotely detonate a bomb from Lebanon.