Lebanon: 20 killed in Hezbollah walkie-talkie explosions day after pager blasts; Israel PM issues statement

At least 20 people were killed and over 450 injured in Lebanon after hand-held radios or walkie talkies used by militant group Hezbollah exploded in multiple parts of the country.

The highly sophisticated attack comes a day after a suspected Israeli attack targeting pagers used by the group for communication between its members. While civilians have also been hurt in these attacks, at least 32 people have been killed and over 3000 have been injured in two back-to-back attacks that can add new complexities to peace efforts in a region torn by the Gaza war.

Firefighters were deployed across several homes in Lebanon to douse fires that engulfed 60 homes, 15 cars and dozens of two wheelers as a result of serial explosions.

According to Gold Apollo Co, the Taiwanese company whose brand was on the exploding devices, the manufacturer of these pagers is BAC Consulting Kft, which produced them under a commercial agreement. But Budapest government said the company is only a “trading intermediary with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary”. Gold Apollo’s chairman in Taiwan, said he was puzzled when BAC asked to license production of its AR-924 pager two years ago but went ahead with what seemed a ‘routine’ deal.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziyad Makari told Al-Jazeera TV that his country didn’t fear Hezbollah’s response, but “Israel and its crimes.” “What happened is a new kind of warfare, and investigations are ongoing by the state and Hezbollah,” he said. “There will certainly be coordination between the state and the group to investigate, because the attack is on Lebanese sovereignty as a whole.”

Lebanon also pointed fingers at Israel’s top spy agency Mossad for what experts called one of the most audacious “supply-chain” operations in the history of intelligence.

Israeli said troops will be diverted to the country’s northern border with Lebanon where both sides have been exchanging fire on a daily basis since Gaza war broke out on October 7.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s statement added to fears that war might escalate between the two sides. “The centre of gravity is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena. We are at the start of a new phase in the war, and we must adapt.”

Israel did not officially comment on the attack but has made it clear in recent weeks that gaining upper hand over Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is one of its “top priority”. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah both blamed Israel for the attack, while the latter vowed to retaliate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said, “We will return the residents of the north securely to their homes,” he said in a brief video statement, giving no further details. Returning the evacuees home was made a formal objective of the war, with Israel adding that war might be the only way to stop Hezbollah’s rocket attacks in the north and enable its civilians to return to their homes there.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was seriously injured in one of the explosions and said it will respond. The country’s envoy to the United Nations said in a letter to the Security Council that Iran “reserves its rights under international law to take required measures deemed necessary to respond to such a heinous crime and violation.”

The US is trying to calm the situation. Amos Hochstein, Washington’s top envoy to avoid all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, told Netanyahu that a deeper conflict is not in Israel’s interest and would only risk a regionwide war.