Fourteen people have been killed and at least 450 people injured after radio communications devices owned by Hezbollah members exploded in Beirut on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.
The new wave of detonations follows a series of similar, simultaneous explosions on Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, which reportedly killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded nearly 3,000.
Reports say that the second day of the attack included devices like handheld, walkie-talkie portable radios and solar equipment, rather than pagers—the devices involved in the previous wave of explosions.
The AP reported that explosions occurred at the site of a funeral for members of the Hezbollah group and a child killed by Tuesday's detonations. The AP said Hezbollah's Al Manar TV said there had been explosions in multiple areas of the Middle Eastern country, which shares a border with Israel to its south. An AP photographer reported that a car and a mobile phone shop were damaged by the explosions.
A security source told CNN that between 15-20 blasts were heard in Beirut's southern suburbs, and a further 15 occurred in southern Lebanon.
Sky News Arabia said the portable radios were purchased by the militant group around the same time it purchased the pagers involved in Tuesday's attacks.
A Hezbollah official confirmed to the AP that walkie-talkies used by the group were behind some of the blasts heard in the Lebanese capital.
Speaking to CNN, a witness, who the outlet said could not be named for security reasons, described the walkie-talkies detonating at around 03:00 p.m. local time.
They said a loud bang was followed by screams, and that the man whose device went off was covered in blood.
This new wave of attacks caused "hundreds of blasts" in homes, grocery stores, and cafes, often with civilians nearby, the AP reported Wednesday.
Among those killed Tuesday were two health care workers. Nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organizations.
The scale of the destruction has drawn international concern. Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an independent investigation into the attacks, condemning the "profound fear and terror unleashed on civilians."
This comes as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in near-daily cross-border exchanges since early October. The clashes began after a deadly Hamas-led assault in southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. Hezbollah has declared its actions to be in solidarity with Hamas.
In response, Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must put a stop to the exchanges to allow people to return to homes near the border.
According to an Israeli official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure.
This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top security officials in Tel Aviv to discuss further military action against Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, new details on the pager bombings have begun to emerge as an American official, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity said Israel briefed the United States after the attack, in which small amounts of explosives had been hidden in the devices.
According to the AP, the technological sophistication of the attacks has raised alarm. The exploding pagers, identified as AR-924 models used in Tuesday's attack, were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, a Hungarian company, the AP said, citing a statement released by Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that authorized the use of its brand on the pagers.
Gold Apollo's chair, Hsu Ching-kuang, told journalists Wednesday the firm has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years. "But the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC."
Update, 09/18/2024, 11:00 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update, 09/18/2024, 11:37 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 09/18/2024, 12:21 p.m. ET: This article and headline were updated with additional information.
Update 09/18/2024, 1:26 p.m. ET: This article and headline were updated with additional information.
Update 09/18/2024, 2:40 p.m. ET: This article and headline were updated with additional information.
This story includes reporting from the Associated Press.
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Joe Edwards is a Live News Reporter based in Newsweek's London Bureau. He covers U.S. and global news and has ... Read more
