Lebanon Walkie Talkie Explosion: Within the last two days, a spate of explosions in Hezbollah strongholds throughout Lebanon has claimed at least 32 lives, left over 3,250 injured, sending fears to a new all-time high that the country will plunge into an all-out war with Israel. This follows reports that walkie-talkies and pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded, something the group claims that Israel must blame for.
Hezbollah Points to Israel
The most powerful of these blasts hit Wednesday on Beirut, the main bastion of Hezbollah, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 450. One of those blasts occurred near a Hezbollah funeral for some victims of another explosion. The day before similar blasts with Hezbollah’s communication equipment left 12 people dead, including two children, and about 2,800 injured.
Hezbollah, with Iranian help, accused Israel of orchestrating the attacks, claiming Israeli agents had planted remote explosives in a cargo of 5,000 pagers used by Hezbollah field operatives. These were apparently set up before crossing into Lebanon. To evade Israeli spying’s detection of its use of mobile phones, Hezbollah reverted to using the low-tech devices of pagers and walkie-talkies.
Hezbollah Retaliates
Responding to the blasts, Hezbollah fired rockets against Israeli artillery positions, but Israel claimed that nothing happened with damage or casualties. The crisis between the two countries, however has also not been mentioned by Israel as the official comment on those explosions.
The situation has raised concern from the international community, with the United States issuing a warning against further escalation. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby urged restraint, saying, “We don’t believe that the way to solve this crisis is through additional military operations.”
UN Chief Warns of Escalation
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said much the same, saying pager explosions pose “a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon.” He said to the world that desperate action was needed to step away from an escalating conflict. The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the situation.
The explosions come at a time when tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have run hot since the outbreak of war in Gaza on 7th October, 2023. A war was ignited by Hamas, an ally to Hezbollah and also propped up by Iran, after launching attacks on Israeli towns. Tensions escalate and remain high, with the specter of more conflict casting its shadow over the region.