Lebanon hit now with walkie-talkie blasts as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war

First it was pagers, now Lebanon is being rocked by Hezbollah's walkie-talkies detonating across the country.

The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported today multiple people were taken to hospital in the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon after their "wireless communications" equipment suddenly and unexpectedly blew up. This is in addition to yesterday's pager bombings. 

Reports of exploding walkie-talkies in Lebanon have been numerous, with blasts also being witnessed in the cities of Tyre and Beirut. It's believed at least nine people were killed in the latest round of violence, in addition to the 12 fatalities and 2,800 injuries from yesterday's pager attack. Two children were allegedly among yesterday's dead.

Lebanon's health ministry said today more than 100 people were wounded in today's attacks, and the Lebanese Red Cross said it was deploying more than 30 ambulances in response to Wednesday's attacks, with an additional 50 on standby. In both yesterday's and today's incidents, many of the reported wounds were suffered to victims' hands and faces. 

While no one has come forward and claimed responsibility for the pager or walkie-talkie attacks, the Lebanese government has blamed Israel, and several news agencies have reported the attack was a joint operation between Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, and its Defense Force. 

American officials were reportedly briefed on the pager bomb supply-chain attack, with unnamed insiders telling the New York Times that as many as 5,000 Gold Apollo AR924 pagers ordered by Hezbollah from a company in Taiwan were intercepted and modified by Israeli operatives to include explosives before being sent on their way.

The devices were then blown up once in the hands of members of the Iran-backed terror collective Hezbollah, which holds significant power in Lebanon. Hezbollah and Hamas had been working together in attacks on neighboring Israel.

It's not clear what sort of walkie-talkies were involved in today's incident, or if US officials are aware of a wider campaign of Israeli officials compromising hardware bound for its enemies. It wouldn't be the first time, of course: Israel used a similar tactic to assassinate a Hamas bomb maker in 1996, planting a bomb in his cellphone and detonating it during a call.

We've reached out to the US and Israeli governments for comment, and haven't heard back. 

The international community, meanwhile, is fears the devastating booby-trap campaign could lead to an escalation in the Middle East, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres telling reporters yesterday the bombings could presage further conflict. 

"Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation," Guterres said. "Everything must be done to avoid that escalation."

Pager explosions were also reported in Syria yesterday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Uncle Sam has urged all parties involved in the latest Israel-Hamas conflict to avoid taking steps that could escalate things - such as hiding bombs in pagers and walkie-talkies, for example. 

"To see it spread to other fronts — it's clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen," Blinken said, adding the US had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the plot.

Israeli leadership ignored that anti-escalation message, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant telling troops today that a new phase of its ongoing war had begun.

Gallant didn't confirm Israel's involvement in the bombings, but called the work "impressive," per AP. Gallant reportedly told troops that the center of the war was shifting north (toward Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria), and that the future would require "courage, determination and perseverance" from the IDF. ®