Exploding Walkie Talkies Sparks Second Day Of Chaos In Lebanon

Just as crowds had gathered to mourn some of those killed in Tuesday’s wave of pager-bomb attacks, an explosion sparked chaos in Dahiya, Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut.

A video captured the blast, showing a man lying on the ground and panicked people, some screaming, running away.

All this, moments before funerals were due to start for an 11-year-old boy and three Hezbollah members killed the previous day.

In the surrounding area there was bedlam as the sound of the explosion echoed through the streets. The chants stopped. Those gathered looked at each other, some incredulous.

As reports spread that this was part of a second wave of explosions now targeting walkie-talkies, no electronic equipment was considered safe.

Hezbollah supporters stopped our team several times, demanding we did not use our phones or our camera.

Lebanese officials said at least 14 people were killed and 450 others wounded across the capital and the south of the country, with fires said to have broken out in dozens of homes, shops, and vehicles.

Already, the latest attacks are being seen as another humiliation for the Iranian-backed group, and a possible indication that its entire communication network may have been infiltrated by Israel.

Many people here are inevitably wondering what will come next.

This is a country still shocked and angered by what happened on Tuesday, when thousands of pagers exploded in that synchronised attack, after users received a message they believed had come from Hezbollah.

The devices detonated as people were in shops, or with their families at home, killing 12 including an eight-year-old girl and the 11-year-old boy, and injuring around 2,800.

Reports suggest a shipment of pagers may have been rigged with explosives, before being detonated remotely.

Hezbollah had distributed the pagers amid concerns that smartphones were being used by the Israeli military and intelligence agencies to track down and kill its members. It was still not clear how Wednesday’s attacks might have been carried out.

Getty Images A radio device exploded in the city of Baalbek is seen as wireless communications device explosions across Lebanon have killed 9 people and injured more than 300, according to initial estimates in Baalbek, Lebanon on September 18, 2024. Getty Images

Exploding pagers and walkie-talkies caused damage in homes and injured thousands across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday

But Hezbollah has vowed to respond, blaming Israel for the attacks. As usual, Israel has not commented.

Fears are, again, rising that the current violence between the two rivals, which has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border, could escalate into an all-out war.

Hezbollah says its attacks on Israel, which started almost a year ago, are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and that they will only stop with a ceasefire, an elusive possibility for now.

Hours after the latest explosions, the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said his country was “at the start of a new phase in the war”, as the 98th division of the Israeli army relocated from Gaza to the north of Israel.

Up until now, Hezbollah has indicated that is is not interested in another major war with Israel, as Lebanon struggles to recover from a years-long economic crisis.

Many here say a conflict is not in the country’s interests.

But some will certainly demand a strong response. An indication of what Hezbollah might be planning to do could come on Thursday, in the first public reaction by its powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah.