Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad announced on Thursday that The death toll from the explosions in Lebanon of communication devices belonging to members of the Islamist movement Hezbollah is 37, in addition to 33,539 injured.
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The minister said 12 people were killed in the first wave of pager explosions. and another 25 in the second wave of walkie-talkie explosions on Wednesday, according to this new assessment.
The attack began on Tuesday when hundreds of Hezbollah beepers exploded almost simultaneously in several of the movement’s strongholds. in southern Beirut, eastern Lebanon and on the southern border. Walkie-talkies exploded on Wednesday after this attack.
AFPTV footage showed people running for safety after an explosion occurred during the funeral of four Hezbollah militants killed when communications equipment exploded in a Beirut suburb on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera that The second wave of explosions was more lethal because walkie-talkies are bulkier devices.
One reason for the lethality of the attack is that it is unusual for communication devices to be used as weapons.
Experts estimate that the explosives were likely placed inside the devices before they were handed over to Hezbollah.
A preliminary investigation showed the beepers “were pre-programmed to detonate and contained explosive materials placed next to the battery,” said a senior Lebanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that “the pagers that exploded were part of a shipment recently imported” by the movement.
The New York Times reported that the exploding beepers were ordered from Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. The company said they were manufactured by its partner BAC Consulting KFT in Hungary.
Fears of open war in Lebanon grow
The unprecedented incidents of the past 24 hours have once again raised fears of the outbreak of an open war in Lebanon, against which Israel had already intensified its rhetoric in the previous days, insisting on the need to end Hezbollah’s presence on the border.
The explosions of beepers and walkie-talkies over the past two days are the “biggest blow ever dealt to the pro-Iranian formation” by Israel, according to a source close to the Shiite group.
Shortly after the attacks on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would return “the residents of the north to their homes,” in his first comments since the wave of explosions began.
I have already said that we will return the residents of the north (of Israel) safely to their homes, and that is exactly what we will do.
“I have already said that we will return the residents of the north (of Israel) safely to their homes, and that is exactly what we will do,” Netanyahu said in a brief video message.
On Monday night, Israeli authorities have decided to officially include the return of 60,000 displaced residents to their homes in the north of the country among the war’s objectives.
Shortly before Netanyahu’s office published the short video, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had already warned during a visit to air force troops that The country is heading into a “new phase” of the war in Gaza as it deploys more forces and resources to the border with Lebanon.
“I think we are on the threshold of a new phase in this war, and we need to adapt,” the minister said.
Lebanon takes action after attack
Lebanon is now taking precautionary measures to avoid further explosions. The Lebanese army, for example, announced on Thursday that it is detonating a series of “suspicious” communications devices in a controlled manner.
“Specialized Army units have begun detonating suspicious communications devices and pagers in different areas, and are urging citizens to stay away from the explosion sites and report any suspicious devices or objects,” reads a military statement.
The Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority (LCAA), for its part, On Thursday, the U.S. government banned the transport of beepers and walkie talkies on flights departing and arriving at Beirut’s Rafic al Hariri airport, measure that will be in effect “until further notice,” it said in a statement.
The organisation announced that “it is prohibited to carry any pager or walkie-talkie on board the aircraft”, and also includes any such device carried “in suitcases or in hand luggage”.
The statement also stated that if these devices are detected during security checks, “the competent airport authorities will proceed to confiscate the devices.”
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