Israel Detonates Thousands of Hezbollah Walkie-Talkies, Killing at Least 20

By Dave DeCamp – Antiwar.com

On Wednesday, Israel blew up thousands of two-way radios used by Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing at least 20 people and wounding 450.

Lebanon’s official news agency also reported that solar energy systems blew up in Beirut and in the south, wounding one girl.

The walkie-talkie attack came after Israel blew up Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon, killing at least 12, including two children and four healthcare workers. The pager attack also wounded around 2,800, and about two-thirds of them require surgery to their face, hands, or eyes, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad.

At least one of the walkie-talkie blasts on Wednesday occurred during a funeral in Beirut organized by Hezbollah for a person who died the day before. An eyewitness told CNN that the man whose device blew up at the funeral was covered in blood and had his hands blown off.

A funeral was also held on Wednesday for Fatima Abdullah, a nine-year-old girl who was killed in the pager attack on Tuesday. Fatima’s aunt told The New York Times that she picked up her father’s pager as it beeped to bring it to him, but then it exploded, mangling the fourth grader’s face and covering the room in blood.

A security source told Reuters that the walkie-talkies that exploded on Wednesday were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers. Images of the exploded walkie-talkies show a label that says “ICOM,” a company based in Japan. Axios reported that the walkie-talkies were booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence before they reached Hezbollah.

The pagers that exploded on Tuesday were reportedly packed with explosives and a detonator before they reached Lebanon. US officials said the pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, a company based in Taiwan. But Gold Apollo said they were manufactured by another company, BAC Consulting, which has a license to use the Gold Apollo brand and has an address in Hungary.