Today’s events may have been the largest security breach in Lebanon’s history. Thousands of handheld pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded leaving over 3000 injured and killing at least nine people including a child. The explosions began at 15:45 and lasted for over an hour, leaving many Lebanese in a state of shock and disbelief and causing chaotic scenes outside hospitals and in the streets.
Where did the pagers come from?
Several pictures of the burned pager showed a high resemblance to the Alphanumeric Pager produced by Gold Apollo Co, a Taiwan-based manufacturer. Whether Iran sent Hezbollah the pagers or they came from another source is not clear yet, but what’s almost sure is that the pagers were rigged with small explosives prior to being shipped.
How did the pagers explode?
It’s being confirmed by several sources that overheating batteries could not have been the reason behind the explosion, but rather explosive material hidden within the pagers. The explosion would have been triggered then by a signal emitted to this batch of tampered pagers.
Will this incident trigger an all-out Israel-Hezbollah war?
It’s been almost a year that Hezbollah & Israel are engaged in a “tactical” war but the threat of escalation is there and this latest criminal aggression by Israel might trigger a full-scale war.
How can you help the injured?
Whether you support Hezbollah or not, thousands of Lebanese were injured today and hospitals are in dire need of all sorts of blood. All you have to do is go to the nearest hospital or consult the Red Cross to see how you can donate.