Hezbollah and Lebanon are still recovering from the aftermath of a series of pager bombings on Tuesday that killed at least 12 people and injured thousands, with a new wave of bombings beginning on Wednesday, this time in the form of exploding two-way radios. Footage of the explosion, which WIRED has not independently verified, appears to show an even larger explosion than the one emanating from the booby-trapped pager.
Lebanon’s official news agency also reported that a home solar power system exploded less than two hours after the radio blasts began on Wednesday. Associated PressDetails of the alleged attack on the solar power plant had not yet been revealed at the time of publication.
The walkie-talkie explosion appears to have been planned in the same way as Tuesday’s attack, likely by intercepting new pagers along the supply chain and modifying them to add explosives. Hezbollah has reportedly expanded its use of pagers in recent days to secure its communications, fearing Israeli intelligence has infiltrated other channels. Reuters Reported Hezbollah said Wednesday it had purchased the walkie-talkies about five months ago as part of the same effort that led to the purchase of the pagers.
In a statement after Wednesday’s explosion, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said More than 300 people were injured and nine killed, with incidents reported in several parts of the country. Lebanese Red Cross said More than 30 ambulances were dispatched to treat the injured.
Details of Wednesday’s attack are still emerging, but Israel is widely believed to be the perpetrator of Tuesday’s pager explosion. Fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah has intensified over the past year since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Hezbollah accused Israel on Tuesday of “criminal aggression that also targeted civilians.”
“We’re astonished at the sophistication of this operation,” said Jake Williams, vice president of research and development at Hunter Strategy, a former National Security Agency employee. “The scale of supply chain intrusion is unprecedented. It’s hard to imagine what technology Hezbollah could consider ‘safe’ at this point.”
Photos and videos posted to social media on Wednesday showed handheld radios and walkie-talkies in various states of destruction, with many of the images showing the devices, which are larger and bulkier than a smartphone, being destroyed. One side of the case removedMiddle East experts, citing local media reports, car, scootersand even building It appears to have been damaged by a tampered device.
“Based on images circulating on social media, it appears that it was a walkie-talkie, possibly Icom,” said Michael Horowitz, information director at risk management firm Les Becs International.
Wednesday’s second explosion indicates that whoever carried out the sabotage and attacks likely had deep access to and knowledge of Hezbollah infrastructure and operations. “This indicates an even deeper infiltration that may have relied on multiple fronts and multiple vectors (different electronics and providers),” Horowitz said. “This is unprecedented.”
