another round of exploding devices, this time walkie talkies exploded
indiscriminately killing people in lebanon and israel acknowledged it was
them
‘New era’ of war beginning, Israel says, as more Hezbollah devices
explode across Lebanon
By Rob Picheta, Tamara Qiblawi, Christian Edwards and Mick Krever, CNN
Updated 2:02 PM EDT, Wed September 18, 2024
Bilal Hussein/AP
An ambulance drives through a southern suburb of Beirut after explosions
were heard.
CNN
—
As dozens of walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday – a
day after blasts targeting the pagers of Hezbollah members injured
thousands – Israel said a “new era” of war was beginning, tacitly
acknowledging its role in a shock operation that has pushed the region
back to the brink of wider conflict.
Almost exactly 24 hours after pager explosions killed at least 12 people
and injured more than 2,800, Lebanon was rocked by a second wave of
blasts. At least nine people were killed and a further 300 injured in
Wednesday’s explosions, Lebanon’s health ministry said, as walkie-talkies
detonated in Beirut and in the south of the country.
After declining to comment on Tuesday’s explosions, Israel’s Defense
Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to reference the attacks during a visit
Wednesday to the Ramat-David Air Force base in northern Israel.
“We are at the beginning of a new era in this war and we need to adapt
ourselves,” Gallant said. He praised the “excellent achievements” of the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF), together with the country’s security agency,
the Shin Bet, and its intelligence agency, Mossad.
CNN has previously reported that Tuesday’s operation was a joint effort
between the IDF and Mossad, but Gallant’s comment is the first time an
Israeli official has apparently acknowledged Israel’s role in the twin
attacks.
The pager explosions came hours after Israel on Monday voted to add
another war objective to its conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah: ensuring
the safe return of residents from communities along its border with
Lebanon to their homes.
After nearly a year of tit-for-tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel,
tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in
southern Lebanon and northern Israel. While the return of residents of
northern Israel has long been understood to be a political necessity for
Israel’s government, this is the first time it has been made an official war
goal.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge
to “bring back the residents of the north safely to their homes.”
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that the IDF is moving the elite
98th Division from Gaza to northern Israel. “The center of gravity is
moving north,” Gallant said. “The meaning is that we are diverting forces,
resources, energy towards the north.”
Dozens of ambulance crews from the Lebanese Red Cross were working to
rescue and evacuate those injured after walkie-talkies exploded across
the country Wednesday.
A witness who was at a Hezbollah funeral in the southern suburbs of
Beirut on Wednesday described to CNN the chaos as walkie-talkies
appeared to explode at around 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) on
Wednesday.
The witness, who cannot be named for security reasons, told CNN that a
loud bang went off, followed by screaming. They said that the man whose
wireless device exploded was covered in blood and his hands had been
blown off.
Photographs meanwhile showed walkie-talkie devices that had been
ripped apart during the explosions.
The Lebanese Civil Defense said they were also working to extinguish fires
in 60 homes and shops that started after the walkie-talkies exploded,
including one in a lithium battery store.
Obtained by CNN
Two damaged devices after Wednesday's explosions.
Hezbollah on Tuesday vowed to respond to an Israeli attack which killed
multiple people and injured thousands across Lebanon on Tuesday. A
child was among at least nine killed in those blasts, which wounded about
2,800 people, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
Speculation has mounted over how low-tech wireless communication
devices could have been exploited. The New York Times reported Tuesday
that Israel hid explosives inside a batch of pagers ordered from Taiwanese
manufacturer Gold Apollo and destined for Hezbollah. A switch was
embedded to detonate them remotely, it added.
The unprecedented attack – as well as the fresh blasts on Wednesday –
risk further escalating tensions in the Middle East already heightened over
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
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