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on september 17, hundreds of pagers exploded almost simultaneously in beirut, the capital of lebanon. on september 18, several more walkie-talkie explosions occurred in beirut.

israel has not yet responded to lebanon's accusations. the explosion of communications equipment in lebanon is seen by the outside world as a dangerous signal of escalating tensions.will the escalating conflict turn into a war comparable to the conflict in the gaza strip?

▲on september 20, local time, the israeli army launched an airstrike on the southern suburbs of beirut1

lebanon borders israel in the south.the two middle eastern countries have been in a state of hostility for a long time and have not yet established diplomatic relations.

as early as 1978, israel invaded lebanon. in order to monitor israel's withdrawal from lebanon, the united nations sent a multinational peacekeeping force to lebanon and has been carrying out its mission to this day, and assisted the lebanese government in governing the southern region evacuated by israel.

hezbollah controls southern lebanon.it is one of the legal political parties in lebanon. israel has long regarded hezbollah as a major security threat.allegations that iran is supplying weapons to hezbollahthreaten israel's security.

▲on august 4, israel's "iron dome" air defense system intercepted a rocket fired at northern israelin 2006, hezbollah and israel had a 34-day large-scale exchange of fire. the israeli army invaded lebanon and thousands of lebanese died. in recent years, the middle east has formed a political system with iran as the core and hamas, yemen's houthi armed forces, and lebanon's hezbollah as the main members.the arc of resistance, with the main goal of attacking israel.

since the current round of the israeli-palestinian conflict broke out in october last year, hezbollah in lebanon has frequently attacked military targets in northern israel.strong support for hamasthe two sides exchanged fire almost every day in the border area. in the past three months, the situation on the lebanese-israeli border has become tense. israeli air strikes killed several senior hezbollah commanders.

▲a motorcycle damaged in the explosion of lebanese communications equipment

the first thing that caused the explosion was the pagers in the hands or pockets of some people in many places in lebanon.hundreds of pagers heated up and exploded almost simultaneously。

pagers, which seem to be obsolete in modern times, play an important role in hezbollah's work and communication.because pagers are not connected to the internet, hezbollah members are prevented from being monitored and tracked by israel.after the explosion, lebanese hospitals were overcrowded and a large number of injured hezbollah members were airlifted to iran for treatment. hezbollah immediately notified that all pagers should be stopped and replaced with walkie-talkies.

but the next day, when many hezbollah members gathered to attend the funeral of the victims of the previous day, another collective explosion of walkie-talkies occurred.hezbollah has asked all its members to discard their electronic communications equipment.

▲september 18, funeral for victims of beirut communications equipment explosion2

outside analysts believe that if these explosions were caused by israel, then there must beisraeli intelligence agencies have long penetrated the supply chain of equipment shipped to lebanon。

israel has previously tried to infiltrate hezbollah through various means.private landline telephones, office ventilation systems, etc.but they were all thwarted by hezbollah.

after a new round of israeli-palestinian conflict broke out last year, hezbollah leader nasrallah warned that israeli intelligence agencies had invaded hezbollah's mobile phone network.

after some senior hezbollah members were targeted and killed by israel, nasrallah believed that mobile phones might be used by israel to locate hezbollah members. therefore, nasrallah called for the suspension of mobile phones and the expansion of the use of pagers.

this also gave israeli intelligence personnel another opportunity to infiltrate. according to reports from the us media,at least a year ago, the israeli intelligence agency established a company engaged in the manufacture of communications equipment to cover up the attacks and set up shell companies to conceal their identities.。

▲on september 18, at the funeral of the victims of the communication equipment explosion in lebanon, a hezbollah member removed the battery of the walkie-talkie

the pagers that exploded were labeled with the golden apollo company. golden apollo said that the pagers were not produced by the company but were licensed to a company.a hungarian company called bacoem production.

however, a hungarian government spokesman said that bac was only an intermediary and that the pagers "had never appeared in hungary." hungarian media reported that the pagers were actually sold bynorta globalfacilitate.

the company is registered in sofia, the capital of bulgaria.bulgarian national security serviceon the 19th, it said it was investigating the company's role in the pager explosion in lebanon.coincidentally, the two european companies mentioned above were registered at almost the same time in 2022.norta global founder linsen jose currently lives in norway.oslo police, norwaysaid that it has launched a "preliminary investigation into the exposed information"。the ceo of the media company where jose works told reuters that jose would soon travel to the united states.

▲communications equipment after being detonatedaccording to us media reports, in order to convince hezbollah,these shell companies have been posing as international pager suppliers, selling a range of generic pagers to customers.but its "only significant client" is hezbollah.

hezbollah began purchasing these pagers in 2022, and the number of purchases has increased rapidly recently. they were still being distributed to its members until the day before the explosion. hezbollah checked these pagers as usual, but found no explosives hidden in them.on the 17th, the israeli intelligence agency imitated hezbollah's senior officials in releasing information in arabic, and detonated the device when relevant personnel were checking the information.

after the pager explosion, hezbollah suspected that other communication equipment had also been tampered with by israel and ordered a comprehensive inspection. however, before the inspection was completed, another walkie-talkie explosion occurred the next day.

british media quoted lebanese security sources as saying that hezbollah purchased the walkie-talkies five months ago, roughly the same time as the pagers.hezbollah believes that israel expected the explosives hidden in the walkie-talkie to be discovered soon during inspection, so it decided to detonate it.。

▲september 18, beirut, lebanon, military bomb disposal personnel check suspicious walkie-talkies

the reason for the escalation of the current conflict between israel and hezbollah in lebanon is that nearly a year after the outbreak of a new round of conflict between palestine and israel, the exchange of fire between hezbollah and the israeli army on the lebanese-israeli border has caused the deaths of hundreds of lebanese and dozens of israelis, and has also causedtens of thousands of people displaced on both sides of the border。

in recent weeks, israeli officials have been sending signals that the israeli army will intensify its attacks on hezbollah. israeli defense minister galant said,israeli armyin gaza, "after months of fighting, the focus shifted to the north",until the people of northern israel who fled the temporary border conflict between lebanon and israel return safely。

▲israeli defense minister galant (in black shirt)the serial bombings are generally viewed as a prelude to a larger-scale israeli military operation in the north.egyptian foreign minister abdel ati warned that dangerous developments were taking place in southern lebanon "due to irresponsible and reckless unilateral actions".the middle east is at a dangerous turning point。

israeli media reported that general ori goldin, commander of the israeli northern command, is actively lobbying the cabinet to approve a large-scale ground offensive against southern lebanon.israel has not yet decided whether to launch a large-scale attack on lebanon。lebanon has been in economic trouble since 2019. the beirut port explosion in 2020 led to the government's collective resignation, and the current government remains a caretaker government. if lebanon and israel fall into a full-scale war, lebanon's situation will be even worse.

us media reported thatus department of defense fears israel is about to launch a ground war in lebanonthe us government is concerned that israel may invade southern lebanon as it did in 2006, which would inevitably trigger a larger conflict and drag the us into it.the military tension on the lebanon-israel border may also cause the gaza ceasefire negotiations, which egypt, qatar and the united states have so far failed to mediate, to fall into a deadlock again.

▲in august this year, in lebanon, people checked the buildings destroyed in the israeli air strikes

on the afternoon of september 20th local time, china's permanent representative to the united nations fu cong called for a comprehensive and timely investigation into the explosion of lebanese communications equipment and to hold the planners and perpetrators accountable during the security council's urgent review of the situation in lebanon and israel.

fu cong said that we are deeply concerned about the possible further escalation of the situation in lebanon and israel and call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint.special appealisrael has given up its obsession with using force.stop nowmilitary operations in gaza,stop nowviolations of lebanese sovereignty and security,stop nowa risky move that could drag the region into a new catastrophe.usstrongly urgecountries that have influence over israel should take concrete actions.stop israel from going further down the wrong path。

references:related reports from xinhua news agency, cctv news, china newsweek, etc. related materials from the ministry of foreign affairs official website

text/lin chuanling photos/xinhua news agency, cctv newsguangzhou daily new flower city editor: lin chuanling