According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least 20 people have died from the explosions of walkie talkies and radios used by Hezbollah soldiers , incidents that come a day after the explosion of pagers that caused another 18 confirmed deaths and thousands of injuries. Around 500 people have also ended up in hospital.

A scenario that has thrown the country into chaos, with thousands of people taking to the streets in protest in many cities and with Prime Minister Najib Mikati declaring that his government is preparing for "possible scenarios" of a major war with Israel .
Military walkie-talkies and fingerprinting devices were detonated in several locations across the country, including the Dahiya district of Beirut, a stronghold of the Shiite group, and in southern Lebanon. Images broadcast by local media showed burning apartments, burned cars, thick black smoke, and people fleeing.

Witnesses reported numerous ambulances taking the injured to hospital .

Other explosions were reported by Saudi media in Iraq, at the headquarters of the terrorist organization al Hashd al Shaabi in Mosul, at the same time as the explosions in Lebanon. In the southern suburbs of Beirut, explosions of devices occurred during the funerals of Hezbollah members killed on Tuesday in attacks with pagers. 1,600 are still hospitalized with injuries, some very serious. Five hundred militants lost their eyesight when their pager was shattered to pieces. And the Iranian ambassador in Beirut is also said to have lost an eye and 19 Pasdaran have been killed in Syria.

On the eve of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's public speech, his cousin and chairman of the group's Executive Council Hashem Safieddine was clear: "These attacks will certainly be punished in a unique way, there will be bloody revenge," he said.

Meanwhile, Israel is silent. Despite the execration of half the world, the institutions of Jerusalem have not batted an eyelid on the 'beeper affair' for two consecutive days. Tehran has accused the entire West of "hypocrisy" and Israel of "massacre". Moscow has spoken of a "hybrid war", the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned of the "grave risk of dramatic escalation in Lebanon", with the Security Council that has scheduled an emergency meeting for Friday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Cairo for negotiations on Gaza that continue under the radar, has ruled out that Washington was aware of or involved in the cyberattack. But the operation that literally left the Shiite militiamen stunned apparently could no longer be postponed. According to US sources cited by Axios, it was triggered by fears that Hezbollah intelligence was about to discover the creative cyber raid: "It was a 'use it or lose it' moment," Israel reportedly told the United States about the timing of the attack. A former Israeli official explained that the services had planned to use booby-trapped pagers as an opening shot in the war to paralyze Nasrallah's fighters. And to reduce civilian casualties. But in recent days it seemed that the secret was about to leak out and Benyamin Netanyahu gave the green light.

Yesterday evening, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant raised his voice from the Jewish state: "The center of gravity is moving north through the transfer of resources and forces. We are at the beginning of a new phase of the conflict ," he told the troops. Confirming the morning's rumors that an entire division had left southern Gaza to reach the border with Lebanon.

Adding to the fear of an imminent escalation is the fact that Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi approved the attack and defense plans for the northern region : "Israel is ready to use military capabilities that have not yet been used. Hezbollah will have to pay a high price if the conflict continues," he warned.

Meanwhile , Japanese company Icom said it stopped producing its branded walkie-talkies that exploded in Lebanon yesterday "about ten years ago." "The IC-V82 is a portable radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago and has not been shipped by our company since," it said.

Icom.

(Unioneonline/vl)

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