[Anchor]
Lebanon experienced an incident where hundreds of wireless transceivers primarily used by the armed group Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across the entire country.
Hezbollah and Iran have pointed to Israel as the mastermind behind this, raising concerns that tensions in the powder keg of the Middle East will escalate even further.
This is reporter Kang Jae-eun.
[Reporter]
On the afternoon of the 17th local time, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital, and around Hezbollah’s stronghold, the transceivers of the organization members exploded simultaneously.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 9 people have died and over 2,750 have been injured in this incident.
Among the deceased are reported to be 2 Hezbollah armed members and a young girl.
The explosions also occurred in Syria at the border with Lebanon.
Approximately 200 of the injured are in critical condition.
Earlier, Hezbollah’s top leader had instructed his staff to refrain from using mobile phones as Israel could track their location back in February.
As a result, the introduction of wireless transceivers, commonly known as “beepers” in Korea, was recent, and the explosion incident followed shortly after.
Reuters reported that the exploded transceivers appeared to be made in Taiwan.
Digital rights group SMEX, active in South Asia and North Africa, claimed that Israel could have manipulated the devices or planted explosive devices.
Hezbollah pointed to Israel as the mastermind behind this incident and warned that they would “definitely face due punishment.”
Iran classified this incident as a “terrorist act,” and Lebanon strongly condemned it as “Israel’s criminal attack.”
The U.S. State Department emphasized that “the United States was not involved in this incident” and stated that they were not aware of it in advance.
They also expressed concerns about escalation in the Middle East region and requested Iran “not to increase tensions in the region using any event.”
As for the impact of this incident on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, it is too early to mention.
Israel remains silent on this incident.
This is Kang Jae-eun from Yonhap News Agency.
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