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Around 3:30pm local time on Wednesday, there was a simultaneous explosion of hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members, resulting in the deaths of at least 12 people, including two children, and causing injuries to as many as 2,800 people in Lebanon and Syria, as reported by Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad.
Around 3:30pm local time on Tuesday, there was a simultaneous explosion of hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members, resulting in the deaths of at least 12 people, including two children, and causing injuries to as many as 2,800 people in Lebanon and Syria, as reported by Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad.
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Tuesday’s deadly blasts, which were concentrated in Hezbollah strongholds including southern Beirut suburbs, came as Israeli leaders again warned of expanding operations against Hamas allies Hezbollah across the border in Lebanon. Israel began moving troops to the border as a precautionary measure on Wednesday, AP reported, citing an Israeli official.
Hezbollah blamed the mass attack on Israel, with whom it has exchanged near-daily fire soon after the start of the war in Gaza, and vowed revenge.
During a hospital tour on Wednesday, Abiad said that many of the wounded suffered “severe injuries to the eyes” while others had limbs amputated. It remains unclear how many of the victims were linked to the Shia militant group.
The wounded have been sent to various hospitals in Lebanon to avoid overcrowding, Abiad said, adding that Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt offered to help treat the patients.
UN rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday said those responsible for the explosions are breaking the law and must be held accountable.
The “simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge of who was in possession of the targeted devices … violates international human rights law,” he said.
While Israel has so far refused to comment, an unnamed US official said Washington was briefed following the remote attack on Tuesday.
A senior Lebanese security source told AP that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency planted explosives inside thousands of pagers imported by Hezbollah months before the deadly wave of detonations.
The Iran-backed militant group uses the low-tech devices instead of cell phones to avoid location-tracking and eavesdropping by Israel.
A Hezbollah official told AP that the exploding pagers were from a new brand that the group had not used before but did not provide the name of the supplier.
Calling Tuesday’s explosions its biggest security breach, Hezbollah asked its members to ditch their pagers shortly after they were detonated, according to the Washington Post.
The deaths and wounded from the blasts are adding to Hezbollah’s growing list of casualties in its fight with Israel. The group has lost several high ranking commanders in targeted strikes carried out by the Israeli army in recent months.
The exploding pagers were traced back to Gold Apollo, a small Taiwanese manufacturer specialising in wireless communication devices located in New Taipei City.
Despite pictures circulating online showing the company’s name and trademark on the handheld devices that exploded on Tuesday, Gold Apollo quickly denied any involvement in their production.
In a statement released Wednesday, the company said the model linked to the deadly blasts – the AR-924 – was manufactured and sold by its Hungarian partner, BAC Consulting KFT.
Containing a rechargeable lithium battery, the AR-924 is advertised on Gold Apollo’s website as being “rugged” and can receive texts of up to 100 characters.
