Map shows where pagers and walkie talkies exploded in Lebanon

Up Next

What does the simultaneous explosion of thousands of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies in two countries look like?

It starts with some 5,000 pagers shipped to the militant group Hezbollah by its enemy Israel, whose agents are believed to have planted explosives and metal balls into each.

Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had spent years calling on the Iran-backed Lebanese group to ditch their use of mobile phones, worried they had been used to pinpoint the locations of top commandos assassinated by Israel.

‘Bury it. Put it in an iron box and lock it’, he urged followers in February.

The pagers, understood to have been ordered five months ago, were supposed to be a more secure, less high tech way to send messages without revealing its user’s whereabouts.

But when they beeped to announce the arrival of a message around 3.30pm on Tuesday afternoon, they exploded, many of them at till points and market stalls.

Two children and four healthcare workers were among the at least 12 people killed in the blasts, which left 2,800 people injured.

Many of them lost hands, fingers, or needed amputation.

A map showing the journey of the pagers from their announcement by Hezbollah's leader in Lebanon, through their interception by Israeli Mossad agents in Hungary, to their delivery.
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE – The pager and walkie-talkie explosions are believed to be the result of a months-long operation by Israeli intelligence services (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

Up Next

Just 24 hours later, walkie-talkies believed to be in possession of Hezbollah operatives, exploded, one of them at a funeral for some of the previous day’s victims.

Those blasts killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 600 more.

Explosions were heard in at least eight cities and towns in Lebanon, as well as Damascus, the capital of Syria, an ally of both Hezbollah and Iran.

Today Nasrallah warned Israel that ‘the resistance in Lebanon will not stop’, in reference to a rocket campaign it launched in support of Hamas in Gaza, in a speech broadcast a TVs and radios across Lebanon today.

A map of Lebanon, northern Israel and part of Syria showing the nine locations where communication devices are known to have detonated, including Lebanon's capital Beirut in the middle of its western coast, its second city Tyre on the coast further south, and Syria's capital Damascus inland to the east.
Eight Lebanese towns and cities, and the Syrian capital of Damascus, were rocked by the explosion of communication devices on Tuesday and Wednesday (Picture: Metro Graphics)

BEIRUT, LEBANON - SEPTEMBER 18: Funeral ceremony held for 4 people who were killed in Lebanon when pagers used by Hezbollah members were detonated, in Dahiyeh neighborhood, south of the capital Beirut, Lebanon on September 18, 2024. (Photo by Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A funeral was being held for four people in died in Tuesday’s pager blasts when another communication device exploded in Beirut (Picture: Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

But his words were followed by powerful blasts from sonic booms created by Israeli jets flying overhead.

Fears of escalation are felt most acutely on the streets of Lebanon, where the army carried out controlled explosions on suspicious devices, and locals have told journalists to take camera away, wary of further blasts.

With Israel moving troops to its northern border with Lebanon, and Hezbollah threatening ‘just punishment’, the conflict in Gaza may well be closer to an all-out regional conflict.

Follow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news

Apps With More Than One Million Users
Follow us to receive the latest news updates from Metro (Picture: Getty Images)

Metro’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories.

There were hopes that had been avoided when Iran and Israel flashed their firepower by lobbing drones and missiles at each other after Israel bombing the Iranian embassy in Syria.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese border village of Adshit, sat atop and among rolling hills.
Israel launched dozens of airstrikes on Tyre, Lebanon’s second city, and other locations in the country’s south on Thursday (Picture: Ammar Ammar/AFP via Getty Images)

The mangled remains of a blown up vehicle, surrounded by charred tree trunks and leaves, a shattered brick wall, and cars with broken windows and and blown-up bonnets, in a parking lot surrounded by concrete walls and houses beyond.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Thursday (Picture: Xinhua/Shutterstock)

Senior Iranian officials and a Hezbollah fighter were among the 12 killed in the embassy attack.

Now the risk of escalation has returned as Israel and Hezbollah threaten further military action.

‘We are at the start of a new phase in the war’, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday.

‘Our goal is to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes. As time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price.’

Nasrallah said: ‘No military escalation, no killings, no assassinations and no all-out war can return residents to the border.’

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for restraint as he urged British citizens to leave Lebanon while there are still routes out.

He said: ‘My message to British nationals in Lebanon is leave while commercial options remain.

‘Tensions are high and the situation could deteriorate rapidly.’

.

Related Posts


This will close in 0 seconds