Walkie talkies utilized by members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah detonated in the group’s stronghold in Beirut, with a live social media stream capturing the ensuing chaos, as reported by Reuters citing a source affiliated with the organization.
One explosion coincided with the funeral procession of a Hezbollah member who lost his life in a previous pager explosion. Individuals were observed fleeing for safety following the detonation of a device. The exact number of devices that exploded remains unclear.
Additionally, there have been reports of landline telephones also detonating at various sites in Eastern Lebanon. According to officials, nine individuals have died and over 100 have sustained injuries in the latest series of explosions today.
This incident follows a day after multiple pager explosions occurred nationwide, resulting in nine fatalities and injuring more than 2,800 people, as confirmed by Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad. Iranian state media further reported that Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon, was injured in the pager incident that took place yesterday.
Reports indicate that the handheld wireless walkie talkies were procured simultaneously with the pagers. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has attributed the attack to Israel.
In response, the group announced today that it targeted Israeli artillery positions with rockets, marking its first offensive against its long-standing adversary since the pager explosions injured thousands of its members.
According to a senior Lebanese security official and another source, Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, had placed explosives within pagers brought in by Hezbollah several months prior to the detonations that occurred on Tuesday, as reported by the news agency Reuters.
Mossad is known for its extensive history of executing complex operations in foreign territories.
