Day After Pager Explosions, Hezbollah Walkie-Talkies Detonate Across Lebanon

Day After Pager Explosions, Hezbollah Walkie-Talkies Detonate Across Lebanon

Late on Wednesday, a string of explosions caused by Hezbollah-used walkie-talkies shook southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

This happened just one day after Reuters reported that thousands of pagers associated with the group receiving support from Iran exploded all throughout the nation.

Over 100 people have been injured as a result of the blasts, according to AFP, which cited Lebanese government sources. The explosion occurred during a funeral procession for Hezbollah members who had been slain the previous day.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad acknowledged the earlier pager explosions, which resulted in roughly 3,000 injuries and at least 12 fatalities, including two children.

Iran’s envoy to Beirut was reportedly hurt by the explosions, adding to the already tense situation in the area.

Hezbollah’s first direct attack on Israel since the pager detonations was a missile attack on Israeli artillery positions in southern Lebanon in retaliation.

Hezbollah members were the target of the explosions, which are thought to have been planned by Israel’s Mossad espionage organization.

According to security officials in Lebanon, the gang smuggled pagers months earlier that were rigged with explosives. Israel has refrained from formally commenting on the assaults.

Vibrant footage from medical facilities featured wounded Hezbollah combatants and civilians with terrible wounds, including broken fingers, injuries to their faces, and damage to the area around their hips, where the pagers were probably worn.

Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese business that was charged with producing the pagers, refuted any liability, asserting that a Budapest-based company held a license to make the devices.

The already high level of hostility between Israel and Hezbollah is heightened by this most recent incident.

The level of cross-border fighting between the two has increased since the October Gaza war. Many worry that a larger Middle East conflict involving regional powers like Iran and the US could be sparked by these growing tensions.

As a crucial Iranian ally, Hezbollah is steadfast in its support of Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, the organization threatened Israel with more strikes in revenge for what it described as the pager explosions’ “massacre.”

Also Read: Why Israel’s Attack on Hezbollah’s Communication Network Was a Game-Changer

What are pagers?

Before cell phones became popular, pagers were a ubiquitous little wireless communication device. They let users to receive quick warnings or messages, frequently in the form of a text message or a phone number to call back.

Pagers, which were widely used in the 1980s and 1990s, work by receiving signals that are sent across radio frequencies.