Walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon result in 14 deaths and 450 injuries

Explosive Catastrophe: Lebanon suffered from more than 450 injuries and at least 14 fatalities in connection with a chain of devastating blasts that targeted walkie-talkies employed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut.

This spate of violence follows another deadly incident yesterday, when exploding pagers killed 12 people and injured nearly 2,800 throughout Lebanon and Syria. Casualties and damages were caused by blasts that described a “wave of enemy attacks”, according to the Health Ministry. The devices were said to be linked to Hezbollah, which, according to sources, has been accused of using devices for its work.

Developments continued to ratchet tensions in the area. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by saying he ordered tens of thousands of evacuated residents from northern border areas to return home. He did not mention the recent incident where pagers and walkie-talkies reportedly exploded, though.

“This is a step towards normalisation, but the security situation is still fragile,” Netanyahu said, without explaining what kind of military operations were conducted or on technology used by attackers.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demands a comprehensive response from Congress to the blasts which have been talked about across the nation for many months. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized the attacks, saying it was a grave breach of international humanitarian law, and questioned any possible US links to the technology involved in the acts.

“This attack is clearly and unequivocally a violation of international humanitarian law, and it undermines the efforts of the U.S. to prevent a broader conflict, said Ocasio-Cortez. Congress needs a full accounting of the situation, including answers from the State Department about any U.S. assistance related to this technology”.