BEIRUT, Lebanon — A second wave of covert explosions targeted Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, this time detonating hand-held radios, just a day after a similar attack using booby-trapped pagers killed at least 12 people and injured thousands.
A security source and witnesses told Reuters that the radios, used by Hezbollah members in Beirut and southern Lebanon, exploded Wednesday afternoon.
Among the sites hit was a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed in the initial attack on Tuesday.
Lebanese television station Al Jadeed News posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) that it said captured the moment one of the radios detonated during the mourning.
لحظة انفجار جهاز لاسلكي أثناء تشييع في الضاحية الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/jNYyKHhzDq
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) September 18, 2024
Israeli Intelligence Behind Attacks, Sources Say
Two sources confirmed to Axios that Israel was behind Wednesday’s explosions, which reportedly involved the detonation of “thousands” of two-way radios.
The Israeli operation was described as a continuation of the covert attacks that began the previous day when pagers, allegedly booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence, were detonated across Lebanon.
A New York Times report, citing U.S. and other officials, corroborated the claim, stating that explosive materials were hidden within a shipment of pagers imported to Lebanon from Taiwan.
However, the Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo, whose AR-924 pager model was used in Tuesday’s attack, issued a statement clarifying that the pagers were manufactured and sold in Hungary by BAC Consulting, a firm that licenses the Gold Apollo brand.
No information has yet emerged regarding the specific brand of radios used in Wednesday’s attack.
Escalating Conflict
The initial wave of attacks on Tuesday saw pagers belonging to Hezbollah members explode over the span of an hour, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and leaving more than 2,800 wounded. Many of the explosions occurred in civilian areas, raising concerns about the broader impact on non-combatants.
Wednesday’s attack was similarly indiscriminate, with explosions reported in residential areas. Casualty figures from the second round of detonations were not immediately available.
The attacks come at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, with both sides exchanging warnings of potential escalation.
On Wednesday, Israel moved additional troops to the Lebanese border as a precautionary measure, according to an official who spoke to the Associated Press. U.S. officials were also briefed on the covert Israeli operation following the initial attack on Tuesday.
