La foule et les forces de l'ordre devant l'hôpital de l'AUB mercredi soir, lorsque des agents ont entrepris de faire exploser un engin qui n'avait pas détonné. Photo Mohammad Yassine
While Lebanon was still in shock from the pager explosions of Hezbollah members on Tuesday, Sept. 17, which killed 12 and injured about 2,800, new detonations were heard around 5 p.m. Wednesday in various Lebanese regions. This time, walkie-talkies belonging to party officials were targeted.
Around 7 p.m., a statement from the Ministry of Health reported a toll of 14 dead and 450 injured. Information collected by our correspondent in the Bekaa and by the state-run National Information Agency (NNA) had already reported three dead in Sohmor, a village in Western Bekaa. Another person was killed in Bint Jbeil, residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon.
In the evening, caretaker Prime Minister Nagib Mikati, who had monitored the new wave of attacks from the Ministry of Health, assured that this second wave in two days in Lebanon was "over" and that there were no new hospital admissions.
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, condemned "the attacks that jeopardize Lebanon's security and stability and increase the risk of escalation in the region," describing the situation as "worrying."
For his part, the caretaker Lebanese Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, considered that the pager attack attributed to Hezbollah foreshadows an escalation of the war, referring to the first wave of explosions. "After the pagers, it is now the walkie-talkies," he added, highlighting the evolution of the situation.
After the pagers, the walkie-talkies
According to a security source and witnesses cited by Reuters, it was more recent communication devices used by Hezbollah that exploded this time, in south Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut. These would be walkie-talkies employed by Hezbollah members to communicate among themselves.
The party had bought these portable radios five months ago, around the same time as the pagers that exploded the day before, a security source told Reuters. According to American channel CNN, citing a security source, these walkie-talkies are mainly used by people in charge of gatherings. Wednesday’s explosions were caused by booby-trapped batteries, imported by Hezbollah two weeks ago, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
The detonations apparently were not limited to communication devices. According to the NNA, solar panel systems in several regions of Beirut also exploded simultaneously with Hezbollah devices. Tuesday and Wednesday’s attacks on Hezbollah members through their communication devices did not involve the official network.
"We have not recorded any violations of the national network by the enemy (Israel) or any other party," said Ogero, the public operator in charge of managing fixed telephony and internet in Lebanon, on Wednesday. "Our technical teams are working 24/7 to protect the national network," the operator added in a message on X, assuring that these attacks "did not affect the national network".
In this tense context, the Lebanese army called on residents not to gather in areas where "security incidents" occur to facilitate the passage of medical teams. The Civil Defense, for its part, stated that its personnel extinguished fires that broke out in 60 houses and shops (including a lithium battery store in Majdel Selm), 15 cars, and dozens of motorcycles following the explosion of radios and two fingerprint scanning devices in several areas of the Nabatieh governorate.
Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi instructed the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces (ISF) and other security agencies to keep their personnel ready to help the population and emergency services throughout the country, according to an official statement.
UN Security Council meeting
International reactions to Tuesday and Wednesday’s attacks came quickly. The U.N. Security Council will meet on Friday at 3 p.m. New York time (10 p.m. Beirut time) to discuss the explosions targeting communication devices in Lebanon.
The German government, for its part, suspended the country's arms export licenses to Israel, according to a source close to the German Ministry of Economy contacted by Reuters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Prime Minister Mikati to express his solidarity.
While Hezbollah had not yet issued a statement on this new wave of evening explosions, Hachem Safieddine, head of its executive council, said the Shiite party is facing "a new phase" and that "punishment [against Israel] will come," Reuters reported.
On the Israeli side, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday, according to Haaretz: "We are entering a new phase of the war," as the armed forces move towards the Lebanese border.
An explosive device in front of AUB
The second wave of explosions began in Beirut, with the first detonation occurring during the funeral of the son of MP Ali Ammar, Mehdi, in Ghobeiri, in the southern suburb of Beirut, killed in Tuesday’s explosions, according to our journalists.
Elsewhere in the capital, a correspondent for the daily an-Nahar reported that a "device" exploded in a car in front of the AUB hospital, the medical center affiliated with the American University of Beirut, which has welcomed many victims since the previous day. According to our journalist Mohammad Yassine, who went on-site, security forces detonated another device that had not exploded.
The Bekaa plain was particularly affected by this wave of explosions. In Baalbeck (Northern Bekaa), an explosion occurred in a car driven by a Syrian national, who escaped unscathed. Smoke columns were seen in Hermel, also in Northern Bekaa. In the village of Libbaya, in Western Bekaa, several people were injured following the explosion of radios.
In south Lebanon, according to witnesses cited by our correspondent, seven people were injured, one seriously, in the locality of Bint Jbeil following explosions inside houses and cars. Four people were slightly injured in a car explosion in Jdeidet Marjayoun (Marjayoun).
In the Tyre caza, four cars caught fire in Abbassieh following explosions, injuring three people. A house burned down in the village of Toura and two in Tayr Debba, and detonations were heard in Srifa. A source from the Risala Scouts Association, affiliated with the Amal Shiite movement, told our correspondent that its members extinguished more than 15 fires caused by explosions in houses and cars. The association also reportedly transported more than 60 injured to the hospitals in Tyre and Saida.
A strong explosion also occurred in the office of Mohammad Kanso, director of Deputy Hani Qobeissi’s office from the Amal Movement, in the village of Doueir (Nabatieh), causing significant damage but no casualties.
The Jezzine caza was not spared. Two people were injured in Kfar Houneh, according to residents. In Marjayoun, explosions injured four people slightly. Explosions were also heard in the villages of Sarafand, Ghazieh, Kharayeb (Saida), and Kfarjoz (Nabatieh).
