A second wave of explosions from the device hit Lebanon on Wednesday, killing 20 people, injuring 450 others and igniting fires across the country a day after hundreds of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members detonated in an unprecedented attack on the militant group.
The Lebanese Red Cross said it deployed 30 ambulances across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in response to the walkie-talkie blasts.
Meanwhile, the country civil defense force said crews were working to put out fires “inside houses, cars and shops” that were ignited by the explosions.
Al-Manar, a Hezbollah-affiliated news agency, said the wireless devices were exploding in people’s hands.
The Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications identified the exploding devices as Icom V82s, a type of portable transceiveradding that they have not purchased through the official distributor and are not licensed by the ministry. Icom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News. A sales manager for Icom America told The Associated Press that it appears the explosive devices have been detonated.
Icom’s website lists the V82 as one of its most frequently counterfeited products and says it has been discontinued.
“Pay special attention to counterfeit IC-V80, IC-718 (currently produced model) and IC-V82 (discontinued model),” the website says. “Copies of these models are floating in the market.”
The AP said that its reporters were in Beirut at a funeral for four people killed by exploding pagers on Tuesday when they heard “multiple explosions at the site.”
Ambulances arrived at the scene, AP reporters said.
On Tuesday, the explosion of pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah killed at least 12 people and injured nearly 3,000.
Two U.S. officials said Israel was behind the attack targeting Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia and political party that the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. The militant group and Lebanese officials also blamed Israel, which did not take direct responsibility.
It was unclear why Israel carried out the attack when it did and whether it was an opportunistic operation or something more strategic that would be followed by other actions, the officials said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that he believed the country was in a “new phase of war”.
“The ‘center of gravity’ is moving north, which means we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena,” Gallant said, adding that residents should be allowed to return home.
Lebanon’s public health minister, Dr. Firas Abiad, said 12 people were killed in Tuesday’s attack, including an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. More than 2,700 were injured, with an estimated 10% in critical condition, according to the National News Agency.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he was visiting the Ministry of Public Health’s emergency operations center when news of the walkie-talkie explosions broke. He told reporters that he has instructed the country’s foreign minister to request a meeting of the UN Security Council to address the matter.
“What happened is deplorable – it is a collective crime that defies humanity and human rights, targeting defenseless people in their own homes,” Mikati said.
Mikati and other Lebanese government officials have repeatedly said they do not want the country to be dragged into a war, but have stopped short of condemning Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.
The Security Council is expected to meet on Friday about pager attacks and other explosions of communication devices in Lebanon after a request from Algeria, a US official confirmed to NBC News.
A spokesman for UN Secretary–General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by the explosions of the device in Lebanon and urged moderation on both sides.
The United States was not involved in Wednesday’s incident, said John Kirby, White House national security spokesman. He declined to answer questions about Israel’s role or whether the United States considered wireless detonating devices an acceptable form of warfare.
Kirby said that the United States believes that the best way to prevent the opening of a war front with Lebanon is through diplomacy.
“We still don’t want to see an escalation of any kind,” Kirby said. “We do not believe that the way to resolve where we are in this crisis is at all with additional military operations.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. called for a “full accounting” of the attacks to Congress to determine “whether any US assistance went into the development or deployment of this technology.”
The attack risked civilian life as the devices detonated in “a lot of public spaces,” Ocasio-Cortez. wrote about Xadding that it “clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict.”
Also on Wednesday, an Israeli commander said troops near the border were “on the edge of readiness.”
“The mission is clear – we are determined to change the security reality as soon as possible,” said the head of the Northern Command of the Israel Defense Forces, Major Gen. Ori Gordin
Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israel since October, aligning itself with Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7 terrorist attack.
International officials have worried for months that exchanges over Lebanon and Israel’s border could prolong the Israel-Hamas war and further destabilize the region.
Thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon and northern Israel have been displaced by the exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday that he and his Cabinet have updated their list of war targets to include the safe return of its residents to the north.
Officials in the country have also warned the United States, its closest ally, that “military action” would likely be the only way to deal with growing hostilities with Hezbollah.