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Women attend the funeral of the victims who were killed in electronic pagers explosion in Beirut southern suburb.
Lebanon hit by deadly explosions (again)
Lebanon was rocked by more deadly blasts on Wednesday, with walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploding in Beirut and other parts of the country. At least 14 were killed, and hundreds more injured.
This came a day after pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon and Syria — killing at least a dozen, including two children, while injuring thousands. Some of Wednesday’s blasts reportedly occurred at funerals for people killed by the exploding pagers the day prior.
Israel, which has been trading cross-border fire with Hezbollah amid the war in Gaza, has been blamed for both waves of blasts. The Jewish state has repeatedly threatened to take more forceful actions against continued attacks from Hezbollah. And on Monday, Israel said it had a new war goal: the safe return of residents who’ve been displaced from their homes near the Israel-Lebanon border due to tit-for-tat fighting with the Iran-backed militant group.
Wednesday’s fatal explosions came as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that a “new phase” of the war had begun. “The center of gravity is moving north. We are diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north,” Gallant said, alluding to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Wednesday called for an independent and thorough investigation into the explosions, noting that they violated international human rights law. “The fear and terror unleashed is profound,” Türk said, urging world leaders to step up in defense of the “rights of all people to live in peace and security.”
We’ll be watching to see what Israel and Hezbollah’s next moves are as tensions continue to rise.
People gather outside a hospital as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024.
Paging Hezbollah: Apparent Israeli attack wounds hundreds
People of a certain age will recall the metaphoric expression “blowing up my pager,” but this was something altogether more literal: On Tuesday at around 3:30 p.m. local time, pagers belonging to more than 2,800 people in Lebanon and Syria actually blew up, killing at least 12, including two children, and wounding thousands.
The pagers were reportedly used by affiliates of Hezbollah, the powerful, Iran-backed militant group and political party that is currently locked in a low-level war with Israel. The group recently bought the pagers to evade signal tracking. The victims, many of whom were reportedly civilians, included Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, who was wounded.
Who did it? Lebanon and Hezbollah blame Israel, but Israeli authorities have not commented.
How does one even do this? There are two theories. One is a mass hack of the pagers, which forced their lithium batteries to overload until they spontaneously combusted. But some outlets are pointing to packing, not hacking: Israel's Mossad spy agency reportedly hid explosives inside the pagers, which were manufactured in Budapest by BAC Consulting. The Taiwan-based firm Gold Apollo licensed its brand out to BAC but firmly denies involvement in making the pagers. Either way, a stunning operation.
The attack is a strategic blow to Hezbollah’s communications, but also a psychological one. Hezbollah has sworn to retaliate. So far the group – and its Iranian patrons – have tried to avoid a wider conflict. But after Israel appears to have paged Hezbollah like this – how will the group respond?