Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday in a second round of electronic communications device detonations just one day after 12 people were killed and thousands were injured in similar explosions Tuesday.
Lebanese media reported several explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, and Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah-dominated suburb of the capital. Pictures and videos posted on social media showed large fires resulting from the explosions, which were apparently hidden in different devices than the pagers used in Tuesday’s attack.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said nine people were killed and over 300 people were wounded in Wednesday’s explosions. Both numbers are expected to grow.
One picture showed what appeared to be a detonated walkie-talkie.
Axios, which cited two sources familiar with the matter, reported that thousands of Hezbollah walkie-talkies were blown up across Lebanon. They were booby-trapped long in advance by Israeli intelligence and delivered to Hezbollah, which had ordered them as part of the group’s emergency communications system to be used in the event of war with Israel.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that three people were killed in the explosions in the town of Sohmar in the Bekaa Valley, indicating the detonations were not limited to Beirut.
Elsewhere, at least one person was killed and 100 people were injured.
A reporter from Al Araby Network described the volume of Wednesday’s explosions as more than the first attack.
One video showed at least a dozen explosions going off in a single apartment building.
Several explosions were heard in just one building in Beirut, Lebanon today. pic.twitter.com/3ugDpzgfGe
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 18, 2024
A 15-minute timelapse of the Beirut skyline, published on X by user DontTellGus, showed smoke rising above the city after the explosions.
Timelapse of the last 15 minutes of the #Beirut skyline. Plumes of smokes can be seen all over the place #pager #hezbollah #israel pic.twitter.com/yh2LvD4ekO
— Don't Tell Gus! (@DontTellGus) September 18, 2024
Another video showed an explosion in a cellphone store, igniting the device.
Crazy footage of explosion from a cell phone store in Beirut today. pic.twitter.com/iGrC66aAB4
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 18, 2024
The United Nations Security Council announced in a statement that it would meet before the end of the week to discuss the attacks.
Some Lebanese people took out their anger on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, with a video showing residents pelting its armored vehicles with rocks. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced his concern that the operation was a preemptive strike in a possible Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
“The logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a preemptive strike before a major military operation,” he said at a press conference shortly after the attack. “So as important as the event in itself … is the indication that this event confirms that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon, and everything must be done to avoid that escalation.”
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib echoed this sentiment, saying the attacks could serve as an omen for a wider war.
Military analyst Elijah Magnier told Al Jazeera that the wave of attacks was the hallmark of a preemptive strike for a bigger military operation.
“Normally, in every war, the first attack is on a command-control base, and here, the Israelis are attacking the control, which is the communication. Crippling communication is vital in any war because it is the main spine of the [enemy] army,” he said.
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The explosions appeared to be more destructive than Tuesday’s, causing fires in apartments and destroying at least one car.
At least one of the explosions occurred at a Hezbollah funeral.
