Lebanon Explosion: Lebanon plunged into chaos after 2nd round of device explosions | World News – Times of India

Chaos broke out in Lebanon, already reeling from the blasts the day before, when a new explosion struck on Wednesday during an outdoor funeral in the southern suburbs for two victims. The blast sent thousands of mourners into a panic, with many rushing to find shelter in nearby buildings.
The explosions on Tuesday resulted in at least 12 deaths and thousands of injuries.The following day, the violence intensified with a second wave of detonations. This time, explosions occurred in Beirut and other areas, including during a funeral for victims of the earlier attack. The death toll from this second round reached at least 20, with hundreds more injured.
“Turn off your phone!” panicked attendees shouted, fearing that their devices could detonate. A voice over a loudspeaker echoed this urgency, urging mourners to “Take out the battery!”

Um Ibrahim, a woman caught in the chaos, implored a reporter for a cellphone to contact her children, shouting, “Turn off your phones now!”
The fear was palpable as people recalled the previous day’s violence. “I didn’t understand what was happening; the first thing I thought was that it was a terrorist attack,” Ali, a 22-year-old trader, told the Guardian. He described how people began throwing their phones to the ground, convinced they might explode.
In a hospital, a doctor—who asked to remain anonymous—reported seeing severe injuries, told the Guardian, “Never do you have eye emergencies at this frequency.” Another doctor added, “It’s transforming 2,000 people into disabled [people] at the same time.”
Mohammed Awada, a 52-year-old man, was driving with his son when they witnessed a horrific incident. A nearby man’s pager suddenly exploded, causing severe injury. Awada recounted the traumatic experience, saying, “My son went crazy and started to scream when he saw the man’s hand flying away from him.”
A result of its own undoing?
As the country dealt with multiple explosions, echoes of the speech made by Hezbollah’s secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in February reverberated through Lebanon. During his speech Nasrallah had asked the people to “bury” their phones calling them the new “agents” of the Israelis. He claimed that Israel no longer needs agents on the ground to target people, because they could do it through the “listening device” in pockets of the people. He alleged that the “Israelis” hacked the Internet, and asked the people to “disconnect” from it, for Hezbollah‘s “victory in this battle”. He claimed that his administration is confronting this agent with “seriousness”.
Also read: How Israel’s Mossad turned everyday pagers into deadly weapons against Hezbollah
The Hezbollah secretary general also called out the “Zionist” aggression, which began on October 7, and “targeted civilians of all ages in Gaza”. He commended the extraordinary resilience and patience demonstrated by the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza, who have endured extreme hardships during this period.
The sophisticated nature of these attacks has led to widespread speculation about their origin. Recent reports suggest that Israel may have been behind these operations. The devices involved were not ordinary pagers and walkie-talkies but were allegedly rigged with explosives well before the attacks. This complex sabotage was purportedly designed to cause maximum damage and confusion among Hezbollah ranks.

According to the NYT, BAC Consulting, a company supposedly based in Hungary, was under contract to produce these devices on behalf of a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. However, intelligence sources revealed that BAC Consulting was actually a front for Israeli operations, with at least two other shell companies created to obscure the true identity of those behind the pagers. This revelation points to a high level of sophistication and planning, implicating Israeli intelligence in the operation.
‘Use it or lose it’
The attacks also appear to reflect a “use it or lose it” strategy. Reports suggest that Israel’s objective was to detonate the compromised devices before Hezbollah members could discover and discard them. This strategic move was aimed at preventing Hezbollah from neutralising the rigged devices and thereby reducing the chances of the group discovering the ongoing surveillance and sabotage.
In response to the explosions, BAC Consulting has distanced itself from the incident. The company said that it had only licensed its brand to be used on the AR-924 model pagers, which were produced and sold by BAC. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo also denied any involvement in the actual production of the devices, asserting that their brand had been misused.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken had recently expressed frustration over recent escalations that threaten cease-fire efforts between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. He highlighted the urgent need for political will from both sides. Since the onset of the conflict on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza has resulted in a staggering death toll of 41,272 Palestinians, with 95,551 injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry.