Lebanon Walkie-Talkie Blasts Kill 20 As Tensions Escalate: Is It A New Phase Of War? Top Israel Minister Says...

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Following walkie-talkie blasts in Lebanon that killed at least 20, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday said that it was entering "a new phase" of war. "We are opening a new phase in the war - it requires courage, determination and perseverance from us," Reuters quoted Yoav Gallant as saying at an air force base.

• On Wednesday, the second wave of blasts triggered by hand-held radios, or walkie-talkies, claimed as many as 20 lives and left 450 injured. The devices used by the militant group Hezbollah, for communication between its members, exploded across Lebanon.

• The first pager blasts took place on September 17 and claimed at least 12 lives and left as many as 2,750 people injured. In the two back-to-back attacks, over 3,000 have been injured. The developments come amid peace efforts in a region torn by the Hamas-Israel war.
• Firefighters were called in to douse blazes in 60 homes, 15 cars and dozens of two-wheelers after the serial explosions in Lebanon.
• Israeli Army chief Herzi Halevi warned against inactivated“capabilities”. Herzi Halevi said, "We plan ahead by stages. At every stage, the price paid by Hezbollah should be high, " Reuters reported.
• According to Lebanese internal security forces, a number of wireless communication devices were detonated across the country a day before the second wave of blasts struck. These blasts occurred especially in Hezbollah stronghold -- Beirut's southern suburbs.

Also Read | Pager devices used in Lebanon detonations were never in country, says Hungary

• Hezbollah leaders accused Israel of breaching its communications. Israel's spy agency Mossad reportedly planted explosives inside pagers imported by the militant group in Lebanon.
• According to a BBC report, a blast happened during a funeral procession in a southern suburb of Beirut, Dahiyeh, where crowds had gathered to bid farewell to four of the people killed in the pager explosion a day before.
• Gold Apollo Co, the Taiwanese maker whose branding was on the devices, denied the allegations and suggested that the manufacturer BAC Consulting Kft is responsible . Gold Apollo said that BAC Consulting produced these devices under a commercial agreement.
• However, in Budapest, the government clarified that the company is only a“trading intermediary with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary”.
• Responding to the recent wave of attacks, Lebanon's Information Minister Ziyad Makari said,“What happened is a new kind of warfare, and investigations are ongoing by the state and Hezbollah,” Al-Jazeera TV reported. He further announced that an investigation over the blasts will be carried out by the state in coordination with the group since the attack is on Lebanese sovereignty as a whole.

The development points to the prospects of a full-scale war between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel which was preceded by peace efforts in a strife-torn region . It is important to note that after the Israel-Hamas war began in October last year, Hezbollah had warned its operatives against using mobile phones to prevent Israeli breaches and instructed its members to rely on its own telecommunications system.

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