Exploding walkie-talkies in Lebanon: What we know so far

Lebanon, a Mediterranean state bordering archenemy Israel and with a history of several civil wars, are currently grappling with a new fear - their communication devices.

First, hundreds of paging devices blew up on Tuesday and a day after, walkie-talkies exploded in similar fashion. The two incidents killed at least 37 people and injured thousands more.

According to a security expert, Japan-made walkie-talkies had been bought by Hezbollah five months ago, which corresponds to the time period the Lebanese group purchased the AR-924 model pagers made in Taiwan.

Various images of the blasted walkie-talkies manifested the name of ICOM, a Japanese radio communications and telephone firm, indicating an IC-V82 model of the company. The Osaka-based company has recently released a statement saying that it investigates how its devices, which had been discontinued a decade ago, ended up in Lebanon.

While Hezbollah, Iran-backed Lebanese group, accused Israel of the latest attacks, Tel Aviv has avoided an official acknowledgement of its responsibility on walkie-talkies blasts.

Experts think that pagers exploded because Israelis had implanted explosives inside the devices en route to Lebanon from Hungary, intercepting the supply chain process.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant gave a statement following the attacks in Lebanon, saying Israel was “at the beginning of a new era” in the ongoing war on Gaza, praising “excellent achievements” of the Israeli army, a veiled message indicating Tel Aviv has opened a new war front where communication devices can be used as kill machines.

Prior to the attack, Israelis also reportedly told Americans about a possible strike, a definite sign of the country’s involvement in Lebanon attacks. Numerous security sources also pointed to Mossad for the walkie-talkies blasts, but Israel’s notorious spy agency did not comment on it.

But Israel’s top general Herzi Halevi was much more clear on the country’s involvement in recent attacks. “We have many capabilities that we haven’t yet activated, that we haven’t seen yet activated, we’ve seen here some of [the] things,” he said during a visit to the military’s northern command.

Is attacking civilian technology fair?

Israeli attacks on pagers and walkie-talkies have triggered waves of condemnations and criticisms on Israel’s conduct of war at a time when Tel Aviv has launched indiscriminate attacks on Gaza killing more than 41,000 Palestinians, most of whom are children and women.

Walkie-talkie attacks were much more lethal in its effect than casualties caused by pager explosions because the two-way radios were larger and heavier in their size compared to the pagers, leading to occasional fires, according to a New York Times analysis. The attacks harmed many victims, making them lose their hands or at least one of their eyes, damaging hips.

But Lebanese people appear to be defiant, unmoved by Israel’s vicious attacks. “This is something we are used to, and we will continue with our resistance," said one young man from Beirut, according to BBC. A middle-age woman also remarked that "This will make us stronger, whoever has lost an eye will fight with the other eye and we are all standing together.”

After the walkie-talkie attacks, the Lebanese Telecommunications Ministry condemned Israel, defining its targeted blasts as “the criminal act”.

“Widespread simultaneous explosions across Lebanon and in Syria yesterday, where detonating pagers killed at least 12 people – including two children – and left thousands of people injured, are shocking, and their impact on civilians unacceptable. The fear and terror unleashed is profound,” said Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, yesterday.

But the US, Israel’s main ally, and other leading Western states have not shown a clear stance on Tel Aviv’s recent escalations in Lebanon, which many see as a possible trigger of wider regional war.

When asked about the non-ethical nature of Israel’s attacks on communication means, a Pentagon spokesman said “I am not a lawyer”, showing the Joe Biden administration’s continuing indifference to civilian deaths caused by Israeli war crimes in Gaza and other areas.

But a Wall Street Journal article also suggested that the US fears that with the recent pagers and walkie-talkie attacks, Israel has signalled it’s close to launching a ground war in Lebanon.