At least 20 persons were killed and over 450 injured after more electronic devices, including walkie-talkies and solar equipment, exploded in a second wave of blasts in Lebanon on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
This came a day after 12 persons, including two children, were killed and nearly 3,000 were injured after hundreds of pagers being used by Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah exploded simultaneously in the country.
In a statement after the first wave of explosions, Hezbollah blamed Israel for the “criminal aggression” and said that the messaging devices belonged to employees of its units and institutions. The group vowed that it would get “just retribution”.
Israel is yet to comment on the blasts. However, the country’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, while speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, said: “We are at the start of a new phase in the war – it requires courage, determination and perseverance.”
Although Gallant did not mention the exploding devices in Lebanon, he praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, according to AP. “The results are very impressive,” he said.
He added that after months of fighting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, “the centre of gravity” was shifting to the north by “diverting resources and forces”.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months amid Tel Aviv’s war on the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas. The wave of explosions in Lebanon is being seen as a significant escalation in the tensions in West Asia.
On Wednesday, blasts were heard at a funeral held in Beirut for three members of Hezbollah and a child that were killed by the exploding pagers a day earlier. A girl was injured after a home solar energy system exploded, the state news agency reported, according to AP.
According to Reuters, images of the exploded walkie-talkies showed labels that said “ICOM” and “made in Japan”. ICOM is a Japan-based radio communications and telephone company.
The devices were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, which was around the same time that the pagers were also obtained, Reuters reported an unidentified official as saying.
On Tuesday, the pagers received a message at 3.30 pm that appeared to be sent from Hezbollah’s leadership, The New York Times reported, quoting several unidentified officials. The pagers exploded after beeping for several seconds.
Israel reportedly hid explosive material into the batteries of a shipment of pagers made in Taiwan and imported into Lebanon, other unidentified officials added, according to The New York Times.
Hezbollah members had been using pagers as a way to communicate in order to evade Israeli location-tracking, Reuters reported, quoting unidentified persons.
The explosions on Wednesday came as Hezbollah said that it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first strike at the country since the pager blasts.
Israel’s military offensive against Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas launched an incursion into southern Israel, killing 1,200 persons and taking over 200 hostages. Israel has been carrying out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza since then. The attacks have killed more than 40,000 persons, including 16,500 children.