At 18:00 GMT (19:00 in Lisbon), the death toll rose from nine to 14 and the number of injured rose from 300 to 450, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Most of the injuries were on the stomach and arms, the same source added.
At least 30 Lebanese Red Cross ambulances were activated, “in response to several explosions in several locations,” while other relief vehicles were on standby.
This was similar to the explosion of pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday. to the integration between its components.
Thousands of devices recently acquired by the system are caught in the snare. Hezbollah ordered the rest to be sidelined.
Pager explosions caused at least 12 deaths, including two children, and 2,800 injuries.
Turn off your cell phones
In addition to the neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital, explosions took place in the south and east of Lebanon this Wednesday.According to Lebanon’s state news agency and sources close to the Shiite group, France Press Agency (AFP) quoted.
At least one explosion hit Dahiya, a suburb south of Beirut and Hezbollah’s stronghold, according to AFP. It happened during a funeral procession for the victims of the previous day’s attacks.
Confusion ensued as people suspected someone was using cell phones or other devices.
BBC journalists said they were stopped several times, asking them to stop using their cellphones.
The Lebanese army found an explosive device in an ambulance Near American University Hospital, it was removed and safely detonated.
This could be a walkie-talkie, as emergency teams also use them. Dozens Lebanese doctors who use pagers have meanwhile put away their devices. A climate of fear is widespread.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that solar panel systems also exploded in two incidents, prompting two fires to be extinguished immediately.
A target facing Israel
Israel has been accused by Hezbollah and the Lebanese government of being behind Tuesday’s alleged act of sabotage, and Israel is also responsible for this new series of explosions at the Lebanese guerrillas’ media outlets.
Tel Aviv said it was monitoring the situation in the neighboring country and did not claim responsibility for the explosions.
Some analysts doubt Israel’s culpability and reflect that this type of communications sabotage by the Israeli secret service Mossad would be particularly useful if Israel were to prepare a major military offensive against Hezbollah.
However, there is no sign of that The search for explanations must be more comprehensive, they conclude, Now the Lebanese guerrillas will look for other means of communication.
The appearance of the devices should be a focus to examine.
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said this Wednesday that the pagers used and detonated by Hezbollah were manufactured by PAC Consulting in Budapest, and that its brand was the only licensee.
in return, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government denied the relevant pagers were ever in Hungary.
“Hungarian authorities have established that the company in question is a commercial intermediary, which does not have any factory or other place of operation of its own in Hungary,” administration spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on the Facebook network. Cooperate in investigations.
Meanwhile, Iran condemned the attacks on Tuesday and WednesdayIn a post by Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani on the X social network.
UN to investigate
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has already criticized the attack.Everyday objects should not be turned into weapons“.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Dürk has called for an independent investigation into the incidents in Syria and Lebanon.
Attacking thousands of individuals simultaneously, without knowing who owned or protected the devices, violates international human rights law and international humanitarian law, Turk explained in a statement.
The new waves that erupted this Wednesday made Antonio Guterres even more worried. In a statement issued by its spokesperson,The Secretary-General calls on all relevant actors to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation”.
A few hours earlier, regarding the Pager explosions, Antonio Guterres considered that they indicated “a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon.” “The rationale for detonating these devices is to carry out a pre-emptive strike before a large-scale military operation,” the UN said. Secretary General said.
Stéphane Dujarric’s statement later called on the parties to “renew their commitment to comply with United Nations Council Resolution 1701,” referring to the 2006 agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that ended the war.
Pagers instead of cell phones
Hezbollah has abandoned the use of cell phones as a form of communication between its elements because they are too easy to detect. Five months ago it replaced them with pagers and other means of communication, which are now bursting at the seams.
In February this year, the group’s militants were banned from carrying cellphones while on duty.
Hizbullah’s top officials stopped taking cellphones to their meetings, fearing their locations would be intercepted by the Mossad.
Lebanese guerrilla leader Hassan Nasrallah ordered his operatives in a televised speech earlier in the year to destroy or bury their cellphones and use pagers, devices that are more difficult to detect. A very general caveat.
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