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following the pager explosion, walkie-talkies and other equipment used by hezbollah in lebanon exploded again.

according to cctv news on the 20th, on the evening of the 19th, the lebanese delegation to the united nations stated in a letter to the security council that according to preliminary investigations, the lebanese authorities found that the communication equipment that exploded had been implanted with explosives before arriving in the country and was detonated by sending electronic information to these devices.

lebanese minister of public health firas abyad said on the 19th that the explosions of communication equipment in many places in lebanon on the 17th and 18th have killed 37 people and injured 2,931 people. the death toll from the explosions on the 18th has risen to 25, and the number of injured has risen to 608, of which 61 are seriously injured.

according to xinhua news agency, hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah said in a speech on the 19th that israel detonated thousands of communication equipment in an attempt to kill thousands of lebanese people, which crossed all red lines and was tantamount to declaring war. while nasrallah was speaking, suspected israeli fighter jets flew over beirut, creating sonic booms and causing several loud noises in beirut.

the israeli military issued a statement on the 19th saying that israeli warplanes carried out air strikes on hezbollah facilities in several areas in southern lebanon last night. israeli defense minister galant said that israel has entered a "new phase" of fighting hezbollah in lebanon. the goal of this phase is to "allow evacuated residents in the north to return home safely." galant said that the israeli army is reallocating combat resources and moving troops to the north.

the origin of the explosive communication equipment remains a mystery

according to singapore's lianhe zaobao, japan's icom issued a statement on the 19th saying that the company had stopped producing the icom v82 walkie-talkies 10 years ago, and based on the circulating pictures of the walkie-talkies, the products did not have a holographic stamp to identify counterfeit products, so it was impossible to confirm whether the products involved were shipped from icom.

on the 18th, golden apollo, a taiwanese manufacturer involved in the pager explosion in lebanon, also responded that according to the cooperation agreement, "the company authorizes bac of hungary to use our brand trademark in a specific area, but bac is solely responsible for the design and manufacture of the products." golden apollo mentioned in a written statement that the company is located in budapest, the capital of hungary.

according to reuters, the hungarian government issued a statement on the 18th: "the pager equipment in the lebanon explosion has never appeared in hungary. bac is only a trade intermediary company and has no manufacturing plant in hungary."

bac ceo christiana barsoni arcidiacono also denied participating in the manufacture of pagers in an interview with nbc, but admitted to cooperating with golden apollo. "i don't produce pagers, i'm just a middleman." as of press time, the paper was unable to get through to the phone number provided by the official website of bac consulting.

according to afp, bac consulting was founded in 2022 and is registered in a two-story building on the outskirts of budapest. legal documents show that arcidiacono appears to be the company's only employee. the documents also show that the company has an annual turnover of approximately 530,000 euros and a profit of approximately 45,000 euros.

it is worth noting that the global network quoted the new york times as saying that several anonymous intelligence officials revealed that on the surface, bac is a company headquartered in hungary, but the company is actually a cover for israeli manufacturing. they said that israel has set up at least two other shell companies to cover up the true identities of the people who made the pagers.

“israel may be ready for all-out war”

after the second round of communication equipment explosions in lebanon, galant, idf chief of staff halevy and prime minister netanyahu issued statements in succession, but none of them responded directly to the explosions that occurred in many places in lebanon.

on september 18, local time, netanyahu issued a statement saying that residents in northern israel would be allowed to return home safely. this was netanyahu's first public statement after two consecutive days of large-scale explosions of communication equipment in lebanon. according to a statement issued by the israeli prime minister's office on the 17th, the israeli security cabinet has updated its "war goals" and added the content of "allowing evacuated residents in the north to return home safely."

galant said in a phone call with us secretary of defense austin on the 16th that the window for a diplomatic solution to the israel-lebanon border conflict is closing. according to cnn, a few days before the explosion of lebanese communications equipment, galant told austin in a phone call that "israel will take action against hezbollah in lebanon", but did not specify to austin what actions would be taken.

on the 18th local time, john kirby, strategic communications coordinator of the white house national security council, said that the united states was not involved in any way in the explosions in lebanon on the 17th or 18th. in response to repeated questions from reporters, kirby said "there is no more information to share."

an unnamed u.s. military official told the associated press that lieutenant general derek france, head of u.s. air power in the middle east, was originally scheduled to hold a press conference in maryland on the 18th, "but after the pager attack in lebanon, he canceled the trip in order to pay closer attention to the situation in lebanon and israel."

the officials said the attack prompted the u.s. air force to review its deployment in the middle east to prevent retaliation. the u.s. navy had already withdrawn an aircraft carrier from the region on september 11, and the pentagon had decided to briefly deploy two aircraft carriers in the region.

two consecutive days of explosions in lebanon have once again triggered international concerns about the escalation of the lebanese-israeli conflict. niu xinchun, a professor at the institute of chinese arab countries at ningxia university, said in an interview with the media that in order to "let the evacuated residents in the north return home safely", israel has increased diplomatic pressure on the one hand, and more importantly, increased military strikes on the other. the successive military strikes show that israel is likely ready for a full-scale war in order to achieve its strategic goals.

eyal zisser, an expert on middle east issues at tel aviv university in israel, believes that it is too early to conclude that the two sides have gone to war based on this incident, and that further observation is needed on the response of hezbollah in lebanon.

the associated press reported on the 19th that although these pagers were used by hezbollah members, there is no guarantee who was holding the pager at the time of the explosion. in addition, many casualties were not hezbollah fighters, but members of the organization's extensive civil action, which mainly serves the lebanese shiite community. mary ellen o'connel, an expert on international law and war law at the notre dame law school, stressed that "it is strictly forbidden to weaponize objects used by civilians."

on the 19th local time, volodin, the chairman of the russian state duma (lower house of parliament), said on social media that international organizations must develop measures to combat the use of electronic devices as explosive devices. volodin pointed out that the possibility of mass production of such "weapons" would push terrorism to a new level. "this is a global threat to all countries."