Walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon day after deadly pager attack

Our live coverage of the deadly explosions across Lebanon has moved here.

People react around a car after a reported explosion occurred during the funeral of those killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18.

Israel says its war focus is “moving north,” tacitly acknowledging its role in shock twin attacks on Hezbollah in which pagers and walkie-talkies used exploded across Lebanon on consecutive days.

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN he fears that the attacks signal a move to an “introduction to war.”

Here’s what else we know:

Nabih Bulos speaks to CNN from Beirut, Lebanon on September 19. 

People in Lebanon are terrified of everyday communication devices following two days of deadly pager and walkie-talkie blasts, said Nabih Bulos, Middle East bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times.

Speaking from Beirut, Bulos said there is fear that there may be another attack in Lebanon on Thursday.

Hezbollah has long touted secrecy as a cornerstone of its military strategy, forgoing high-tech devices to avoid infiltration from Israeli and US spyware.

At the start of the year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on members and their families in southern Lebanon, where fighting with Israeli forces across the border has raged, to dump their cellphones, believing Israel could track the movement of the Iran-backed terror network through those devices.

But the deliberate evasion of surveillance has proven to be ineffective and exposes “part of a larger continuum of intelligence failures over the last few months,” Bulos said.

Japanese firm ICOM said that the model of its walkie-talkie linked to explosions in Lebanon was discontinued a decade ago, and it could not determine whether they were counterfeit or shipped from its company.

The company said production of the batteries in the devices was also discontinued and that “a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company.”

Lebanon’s communications ministry has said that the walkie-talkies used in the attack Wednesday, which killed at least 20 people and injured 450 others, were a discontinued model, the IC-V82, made by the Japanese firm.

The IC-V82 radios were not supplied by a recognized agent, were not licensed and were not vetted by the security services, the ministry said.

ICOM said all of its radios are manufactured in Wakayama Prefecture under a strict management system to ensure “no parts other than those specified by our company are used in a product.”

It also said products for overseas markets are sold exclusively through authorized distributors and that it conducts “strict export controls” based on government security trade regulations. 

Iran has said it will respond after its ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was wounded in the exploding pager attack targeting Hezbollah, which killed at least 12 people,including children, and injured thousands across the country.

Iran backs Hezbollah, which is one of the most powerful militia groups in the Middle East and has been involved in daily exchanges of fire with Israel since the October 7 Hamas attacks. 

CNN has learned that Israel, which refused to comment directly on this week’s series of explosions in Lebanon, was behind the attacks.

The ambassador’s wife said on social media that his treatment “is going well,” according to state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Wednesday for the third time in 48 hours following consecutive days of pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon attributed to Israel that killed dozens and wounded thousands.

The heightened frequency of the calls underscores the sensitivity of the moment, as US officials push for a diplomatic offramp to an increasingly volatile situation between Israel and Hezbollah. 

Austin spoke to Gallant twice on Tuesday. In the first of those calls, Gallant notified Austin that Israel was going to carry out an operation in Lebanon but gave no details on what the operation would entail. 

The White House reiterated Wednesday that the US was not involved in the series of attacks in Lebanon.

The US learned about the operation’s details from reports of exploding Hezbollah pagers a short time later. 

After declining to comment on Tuesday’s pager explosions, Gallant appeared to reference the attacks during a visit Wednesday to the Ramat-David Air Force base in northern Israel.

Gallant praised the “excellent achievements” of the Israel Defense Forces, together with the country’s security agency, the Shin Bet, and its intelligence agency, Mossad.

Gallant’s comment is the first time an Israeli official has tacitly acknowledged Israel’s role in the twin attacks.

The sales office for Japanese walkie-talkie maker ICOM in the city of Osaka, Japan, on September 19.

Japanese firm ICOM said it was investigating reports that its walkie-talkies were used in the explosions Wednesday in Lebanon, which killed at least 20 people and injured more than 450. 

The company said it would release information as it becomes available. 

The walkie-talkies that exploded on Wednesday were a discontinued model made by the Japanese firm, according to Lebanon’s communications ministry.

The IC-V82 radios were not supplied by a recognized agent, were not officially licensed and had not been vetted by the security services, the ministry said.

The company’s website says the IC-V82 has been discontinued, and almost all models in current circulation are counterfeit.

Photos shared on social media Wednesday alongside claims they show some of the exploded devices bear markings consistent with the IC-V82, a CNN analysis found.

Israel has severely disrupted Hezbollah’s communications network, possibly paving the way for an imminent military offensive in Lebanon, says CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer. 

This week’s attacks rendered Hezbollah unable to coordinate operations effectively, giving Israel a significant strategic advantage in their conflict, according to the former CIA operative.

Baer noted that recent comments by Israel’s defense minister indicate a shift in focus towards Hezbollah, with Israel “pivoting north” after concentrating efforts on Gaza. He said this escalation could lead to an invasion or a widespread bombardment of Lebanon. 

Baer described Israel’s breach of Hezbollah’s supply and communication network as a “great defeat” for the group. This tactical achievement has crippled Hezbollah’s ability to mobilize forces, coordinate attacks, and manage logistics. 

“The fact that Israel got into their supply network is unprecedented,” Baer remarked, highlighting the disruption of Hezbollah’s use of walkie-talkies as particularly damaging because Hezbollah relies on them to call in fire coordinates, move ammunition, and communicate in real-time. 

This leaves Hezbollah vulnerable if Israel moves forward with its military plans. 

Baer, who has tracked Hezbollah for years, expressed astonishment at the precision and scale of the Israeli operation. 

Baer said that the operation reflects Israel’s remarkable technical capabilities and emphasized that Hezbollah has long been known for its disciplined and secure communications, making Israel’s breakthrough even more significant. 

He also suggested that the operation serves as a warning to other hostile actors in the region. Israel’s ability to penetrate Hezbollah’s communication network could signal to countries like Syria, Egypt, and Jordan that their systems may be vulnerable to similar infiltration. 

Taiwan's Ministry Spokesman Sun Li-fang speaks during the Taipei Aerospace and Defence Technology Exhibition at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, on September 13, 2023.

Taiwan’s defense ministry denied it was informed beforehand of any connection between the use of Taiwanese-branded pagers and the deadly attack in Lebanon on Tuesday targeting Hezbollah members. 

CNN has reported that Tuesday’s pager explosion attacks, which have heightened tensions in a region already on edge, was a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military.

Israel has tacitly acknowledged its role in the shock operation, which also saw dozens of walkie-talkies explode across Lebanon, as it said a “new era” of war was beginning.

Damaged products identified in images following the wave of deadly pager explosions Tuesday appeared to show the labels of Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo. 

When asked whether Israel had informed Taiwan in advance of the attack, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo flatly responded: “Impossible.” 

Defense ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said Wednesday that Taiwan was “not involved in any international cooperation outside of this region that is sort of a provocative nature.”

He said the ministry would not speculate on who manufactured or modified the pagers. 

Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-kuang denied making the pagers bearing its brand name used in the attack – later pointing, without evidence, to the Budapest-registered BAC Consulting firm.

Hungarian authorities denied Gold Apollo’s suggestion, saying that BAC Consulting “is a trading intermediary” with no manufacturing sites in the country. 

The various allegations raise further questions as to who manufactured the devices and just how they made their way into Hezbollah’s pockets.

Hezbollah announced the death of 16 members on Wednesday, one of the deadliest days for the group since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7. 

The Iran-backed militant group did not give details on the circumstances of the deaths, but said most were from towns in the south of Lebanon. 

Among those who died was a 16-year-old boy, it said. 

The announcement came after walkie-talkie explosions across Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least 20 people, according to the country’s health ministry. It also came as the Israeli military announced it had struck several Hezbollah “infrastructure sites” in southern Lebanon.

Ninety-five people injured in this week’s device explosions in Lebanon are being transferred to Iran for further treatment, Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Wednesday, citing Pirhossein Koulivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society. 

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said it dispatched a team on Wednesday following Tuesday’s deadly pager explosions in Lebanon. Later on Wednesday, walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon killed at least 20 people.

Videos posted on Iranian semi-official outlets show individuals being transferred by stretchers and taken onboard a plane, their heads and eyes wrapped in bandages. 

Iran accused Israel of carrying out a “terrorist act” and “genocide” after pagers — some owned by Hezbollah members — blew up nearly simultaneously on Tuesday in an unprecedented attack. CNN has learned that Israel was behind Tuesday’s attacks, though Israeli officials have not commented on either day’s attacks publicly.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday it struck several Hezbollah “infrastructure sites” in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military “struck a Hezbollah launcher” as well as “infrastructure sites in the areas of Halta, Kfarkela, Odaisseh, and Chama in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said in a statement.

The strikes came after “approximately 20 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon” into the country’s northern-most territory, known as the Upper Galilee, the IDF added.

The IDF said it had intercepted “some of the projectiles,” and no injuries were reported.

Hezbollah claimed to have attacked several Israeli military sites in northern Israel with rockets throughout Wednesday. The Iran-backed militant group described those attacks as being in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

The group also announced the deaths of at least 11 members on Wednesday but did not give details on the circumstances.

The post was updated with the latest information on the Hezbollah death toll.

Exploded walkie-talkies in Lebanon on September 18.

Lebanon’s communications ministry said the walkie-talkie devices that exploded on Wednesday were a discontinued model made by the Japanese firm ICOM.

The IC-V82 radios were not supplied by a recognized agent, were not officially licensed and had not been vetted by the security services, the ministry said.

ICOM has not responded to a CNN’s request for comment. On its website it says the IC-V82 has been discontinued, and almost all models in current circulation are counterfeit.

Photos circulating on social media Wednesday, claiming to show some of the exploded devices, bear markings consistent with the IC-V82, a CNN analysis found.

The death toll from Wednesday’s walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon has risen to at least 20, with more than 450 injured, according to the country’s health ministry. 

The White House reiterated Wednesday that the United States was not involved in a series of attacks that saw booby-trapped devices explode this week in Lebanon.

Pressed in a follow-up exchange with another reporter, Kirby wouldn’t say if Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin received a heads up on Wednesday’s attack, which saw scores of walkie-talkies explode across Lebanon, during a Tuesday call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Kirby repeatedly declined to confirm on the record that Israel was behind the electronics attacks, telling reporters, “I’m not going to get into intelligence assessment, estimates and assessments from here. 

CNN has reported that Tuesday’s pager explosion attacks, which have heightened tensions in a region already on edge, was a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as “criminal Israeli aggression.”

But Kirby acknowledged the administration is concerned over the prospect of tensions escalating in the region, saying the US does not believe “additional military operations” are the solution. He pointed to diplomacy instead.

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center on Wednesday.

United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has condemned the pager blasts in Lebanon on Tuesday that killed at least 12 people and injured around 2,800.

Türk called the attacks a violation of international humanitarian law and called for an “independent, thorough and transparent investigation.”   

CNN has learned that the Israeli military and intelligence service were behind Tuesday’s attack, but Israeli officials have not publicly commented on it, or on Wednesday’s walkie-talkie explosions. 

Türk also did not comment on Wednesday’s walk-talkie blasts, and his comments were only in reference to the Tuesday pager blasts.

The UN rights chief also said that whoever ordered and carried out the attack “must be held to account.” Turk’s call for an investigation into the blasts was echoed by International NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) who said the investigation should be “prompt” and “urgently conducted.” 

“Customary international humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby traps – objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use – precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk and produce the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon today,” HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said.

Israel launched the Tuesday pager attack after it believed the capability had been discovered by Hezbollah, according to an Israeli source familiar with national security.

The pager attack was not meant to escalate the tensions with Lebanon but was a “surgical” strike on Hezbollah, the source said.

The source noted the Iranian ties to Hezbollah, adding “You have to ask why the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was holding a Hezbollah beeper.”

A video grab shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house in Baalbek, east Lebanon, on Wednesday.

A Taiwanese electronics manufacturer said a tiny European company made the pagers linked to the deadly attack targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon on Tuesday, as a fresh wave of walkie-talkie explosions rocked parts of the country on Wednesday and questions swirled over how the devices made it there.

At the non-descript offices of Gold Apollo on the outskirts of the Taiwanese capital on Wednesday, the founder of the company, Hsu Ching-kuang, vehemently denied making the pagers bearing its brand name that were used in Tuesday’s massive assault – later pointing, without evidence, to the Budapest-registered BAC Consulting firm.

The allegations raise further questions as to who manufactured the devices and just how they made their way into Hezbollah’s pockets.

Hungarian authorities denied Gold Apollo’s suggestion late Wednesday, saying the Budapest-registered company “is a trading intermediary” with no manufacturing sites in the country. “The referenced devices have never been in Hungary,” Hungary’s State Secretary for International Communication Zoltan Kovacs said.

CNN has attempted to reach BAC through the website that Gold Apollo gave to reporters, and at the address listed for its office, located in a residential area of Budapest.

CNN also reached out to BAC Consulting chief executive Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono through an email address and phone number listed for her, but has not received a response. NBC News reported that Bársony-Arcidiacono had confirmed in a phone call that her company worked with Gold Apollo, but denied making the pagers, saying, “I am just the intermediate.”

CNN could not confirm her statement.

Read more about the origins of the devices here.

Gianluca Mezzofiore, Tamara Qiblawi, Pallabi Munsi, Oren Liebermann and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN he fears that theconsecutive deadly attacks in Lebanon signal a move to an “introduction to war.”

The foreign minister’s comments come after walkie-talkies exploded in the country a day after pager blasts killed at least 12 people. 

CNN has learned that Israel was behind Tuesday’s attacks, though Israeli officials have not commented on either day’s attacks.   

At least 14 people are now dead and 450 injured from Wednesday’s walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry.

A partly damaged car is seen after a small explosion, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Wednesday.

Lebanon has been stunned by a wave of deadly attacks caused by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies over two days that Lebanese officials have blamed on Israel.

Tacitly acknowledging its role in the shock operation, Israel said a “new era” of war was beginning.

On Tuesday, pagers across the country rang out — and then exploded, killing at least 12 people and injuring hundreds more. On Wednesday at least 14 people were killed after walkie-talkies detonated, according to health officials.

CNN has learned Tuesday’s attack, which targeted militant group Hezbollah, was a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military.

Hezbollah pledged to retaliate, and the Lebanese government condemned the attack as “criminal Israeli aggression.”

Here’s what else we know about the attack and its aftermath:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on September 2.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated his pledge to return Israel’s northern residents to their homes near the border with Lebanon after they were evacuated due to cross-border attacks.

Remember: Israel’s cabinet on Monday officially added the return of those residents to their homes as an official goal of the war.

Some context: Tens of thousands of Israelis who live near the border with Lebanon have been evacuated from their homes since Hezbollah began attacking that part of the country in October 2023. A low-level skirmish has raged ever since, with the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah trading near-daily attacks. 

The country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said Wednesday that a “new era” in Israel’s war effort is beginning after booby-trapped devices belonging to Hezbollah members exploded across two days in Lebanon.

Tacitly acknowledging his country’s role in that operation, Yoav Gallant said the center of gravity of the war was moving north.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv in October 2023.

A “new era” in Israel’s war effort is beginning, the country’s defense minister said Wednesday, after booby-trapped devices belonging to Hezbollah members exploded across two days in Lebanon.

Tacitly acknowledging his country’s role in that operation, Yoav Gallant said the center of gravity of the war was moving north.

His comments amounted to the first apparent acknowledgement by an Israeli official that Israel’s security forces were behind Tuesday’s operation in which thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon.

CNN had previously reported that the operation was a joint effort between the Israel Defense Forces and Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. On Wednesday, scores of walkie-talkies exploded in an apparent followup operation.

His remarks came hours after a source familiar with the matter told CNN that the Israeli military is moving the elite 98th Division from Gaza to northern Israel. 

The Israeli cabinet on Monday officially added the return of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north to their homes. 

“The center of gravity is moving north,” Gallant said. “The meaning is that we are diverting forces, resources, energy towards the north.”

Until the moment the pagers started exploding, all the discussion in Israel was whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would fire Gallant, to replace him with a former rival who could help him shore up his power domestically. Gallant had a 35-year career in the IDF.

Dozens of ambulance crews from the Lebanese Red Cross were working to rescue and evacuate those injured after walkie-talkies exploded across the country on Wednesday. 

More than 30 teams of Lebanese Red Cross emergency medics were working in southern Lebanon, the central Beqaa valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut. An extra 50 ambulance crews were on alert in Mount Lebanon and Beirut to help with evacuation efforts. 

Wednesday’s deadly blasts come just 24 hours after hundreds of pagers exploded, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 2,800. 

The Lebanese Civil Defense said it was also working to extinguish fires in 60 homes and shops that started after the walkie-talkies exploded, including one in a lithium battery store. 

Fifteen cars and dozens of motorcycles also caught fire as well as two fingerprint devices in the Nabatieh Governorate.

The pagers used in a deadly attack in Lebanon on Tuesday were not manufactured in Hungary, despite reported links to a company based in the central European country, a Hungarian government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

It comes after a Taiwanese company, whose trademark appears on the pagers that exploded, said the models used in Lebanon were designed and made by its distributor BAC Consulting — based in Hungary’s capital Budapest. 

“It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary,” he added.

Kovacs said Hungarian national security services are “cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organizations” but the case poses no national security risk.

CNN has reached out to BAC for a response.  

A Lebanese Red Cross ambulance is seen at the emergency entrance of the American University hospital in Beirut on Wednesday.

The death toll from Wednesday’s walkie-talkie explosions has risen to nine, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

More than 300 people were injured.

The renewed attack comes just a day after a coordinated explosion of pagers killed 12 in Lebanon and left more than 2,800 people injured.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm at the two consecutive days of communications device explosions in Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, Guterres commented on Tuesday’s explosions, warning of the risk of escalation in the region.

“Everything must be done to avoid that escalation,” he told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday. The UN chief said the “logic” of making all the devices explode was that of a“pre-emptive strike before a major military operation.”

Israeli officials notified the US it was going to carry out an operation in Lebanon on Tuesday but did not give any details on what they were planning, according to three sources familiar with the matter, including in a call between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant early Tuesday morning.

The fact that no details about what the operation would entail meantUS officials were left in the dark until reports of hundreds of exploding pagers emerged a short time later, the sources said.

CNN has learned that Israel was behind the audacious attack, which has heightened tensions in a region already on edge, and it was a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as “criminal Israeli aggression.”

A shock to senior US officials: Tuesday’s explosions came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was traveling from Washington to Cairo, stunning US diplomats who watched the breaking news in real time on their airplane TVs. On Wednesday, Blinken said during a news conference in Egypt that the United States “did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents.”

Mitigating the aftermath: The US conveyed to Iran via a backchannel that it was not involved in the attack and that Iran should not escalate, a separate US official told CNN. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was injured by the exploding pagers, according to Iranian state media. Throughout the course of the nearly year-long war in Gaza, the US has consistently sent indirect messages to Tehran about not escalating.

Latest attack: On Wednesday, walkie-talkies detonated in a fresh wave of explosions in Lebanon, a security source told CNN. It’s not immediately clear who was responsible or if the US was notified.

Keep reading here.

A witness who was at a Hezbollah funeral in the southern suburbs of Beirut has described to CNN the chaos as walkie-talkies appeared to explode at around 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).

The witness, who cannot be named for security reasons, told CNN that a loud bang went off, followed by screaming.

They said that the man whose wireless device exploded was covered in blood and his hands had been blown off.

The reported walkie-talkie explosion comes just one day after hundreds of pagers detonated across Lebanon, killing at least 12 people and injuring 2,800 more. 

Correction: An earlier version of this post included the wrong time of the attack.

Smoke rises from a mobile shop as civil defence members gather in Sidon, Lebanon, on September 18.

At least one person has been killed and more than 100 others injured in a fresh wave of explosions in Lebanon affecting walkie-talkies, according to the Lebanese health ministry.  

Lebanese state media NNA earlier reported three people died in Wednesday’s blasts in the towns of Sahmar in Rashaya and Western Bekaa in southern Lebanon.

This post was updated with official figures from the Lebanese health ministry.

A partly damaged car after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on September 18.

The devices that detonated in a fresh wave of explosions in Lebanon on Wednesday were walkie-talkies, a security source told CNN.

Preliminary information suggested that there were between 15 to 20 explosions in southern suburbs of Beirut, and a further 15 to 20 blasts in southern Lebanon, the source said.

The walkie-talkies are less widely used than the pagers that blew up on Tuesday, as they had only been distributed among people organizing crowds, such as funerals and marches, the source said. 

People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon, on September 18.

There have been several reports of wireless devices exploding in several locations across Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lebanese state media NNA. 

“The Army Command asks citizens not to gather in areas witnessing security incidents to allow the arrival of medical teams,” the Lebanese Army warned citizens in a post on X/Twitter. 

Pictures taken by Reuters show emergency services responding to what appears to be further explosions in Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday.

A separate video captured by Agence France Presse shows people running for cover in Beirut.

Some of the victims injured in Tuesday’s pager attack across Lebanon are being transferred to Syria and Iran for treatment, according to the Lebanese health minister.  

In a statement on Tuesday, Minister Firass Abiad said that “cases were transferred from the Bekaa (Hospital) to Syria due to the short distance.” He thanked his Syrian counterpart for opening specialized hospitals in Syria, and added that some cases will also be evacuated to Iran. 

Abiad added that the majority of those injured would remain in Lebanon for treatment.  

Firas Abiad speaks during a news conference about the pager explosions in Beirut, Lebanon on September 18.

An initial review into how a coordinated attack targeting Hezbollah pagers was executed has found that the devices rang before exploding, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad has said. 

The minister released a statement after touring the main hospitals treating victims from Tuesday’s attack. 

He said that many of the injuries appear to have come when people picked up their pagers to check them.

Abiad added that treatments largely focused on the face, eyes and hands, and that a large number suffered from burns. Many amputations, especially of the hands, have been carried out, he said.

Lebanese army soldiers secure the area for an ambulance to enter the premises of the American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 17.

A day after Israel executed a complex operation to detonate explosives planted in thousands of pagers across Lebanon, there are a number of theories about why the attack might have been launched now.

Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, attends a joint press conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Egypt, on September 18.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the faltering efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza have come down to “a question of political will,” as he sought to revive momentum in the process during his visit to Egypt. 

Blinken sought to place blame for the failure to reach a deal on Israel and Hamas. He also expressed frustration with the stuttering nature of the talks, which have frequently been disrupted by escalations in the war in Gaza, and elsewhere in the Middle East, during a news conference in Cairo.

“It’s a complicated process, and even the communications involved are complicated, for obvious reasons,” Blinken said of the talks, in response to a question from CNN. “In the intervening time you might have an event, an incident, that something that makes the process harder, that threatens to slow it.”

He gave no indication that a ceasefire-for-hostages agreement is closer to being achieved, saying that “important but discreet issues” still need to be resolved. He said this is now “less a question of substance and more a question of political will.”

Blinken has made frequent visits to the Middle East to push efforts to secure a deal – though this is his first without a stop in Israel since October 7.

But US optimism over those talks has tapered in recent weeks, and Tuesday’s pager attacks in Lebanon have once again complicated the process.

A US proposal to find a solution to bridge the differences between Israel and Hamas has yet to be presented to both sides and when that will happen remains unclear, despite US officials claiming earlier this month that it was near completion.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference in Cairo on September 18.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged “all parties” in the Middle East to avoid “any steps that could escalate the conflict” in Gaza, after Lebanon blamed Israel for a series of pager explosions that targeted Hezbollah members.

Blinken said during a news conference in Egypt that the United States “did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents.”

“We’re still gathering the information and gathering the facts,” Blinken told reporters. “We remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict in Gaza.”

Blinken was talking alongside Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty who condemned the attacks and warned that escalations could lead to the Middle East “moving to the edge of comprehensive regional war.”

“Egypt is against any unilateral action that can attack the sovereignty of Lebanon,” Abdelatty said. “We are in full solidarity with the government of Lebanon and the people of Lebanon.

“We will condemn any targeting of the Lebanese sovereignty,” he added.

People attend the funeral ceremony for Fatima Abdullah, a nine year old girl who died in a pager explosion, in Beqaa, Lebanon, on September 18.

At least two children were killed in Tuesday’s pager attacks across Lebanon, the country’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said.

The nature of the injuries show that many of the pagers were in homes, where children were playing with the devices, Abiad added in a Wednesday news conference. 

It is unclear how many Hezbollah members were killed in the explosions.  

When asked by CNN on Wednesday, Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Haj Hassan did not specify how many among the dead were Hezbollah members.  

CNN law enforcement contributor and retired FBI agent Steve Moore has said how the deadly exploding pager attack in Lebanon indicates a major breach of Hezbollah’s communications and has spread fear among people in the country.

“This was a massive endeavor, highly covert,” Moore told CNN’s Kasie Hunt. “The difficulty here is that you have to do this without the pager company being aware of it.

As well as indicating that Hezbollah’s communications have been severely disrupted, Moore says that this has also dented morale and caused fear among people in Lebanon who are now “wondering if any of their devices” are secure and whether they are “safe in their own homes.”

At least 12 people were killed, including an 8-year-old girl, and at least 2,800 wounded in the attack that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday.

CNN has learned the attack was a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. Israel has refused to comment publicly on the explosions.

A Hezbollah lawmaker and former Lebanese minister, Hussein Haj Hassan, has told CNN that all those injured in Tuesday’s pager attack are in high spirits.  

“We are steadfast,” Hassan said at the American University Hospital in Beirut on Wednesday.  

He also said the group will respond in the “appropriate time and way.”  

“Despite the sacrifices, wounds and martyrs the resistance will continue and will keep on supporting Gaza,” Hassan added.  

When asked by CNN, he did not give a number of Hezbollah members or fighters killed in Tuesday’s attack. 

We’re getting more details from CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany, who is outside the American University of Beirut Hospital:

Outside the hospital, a woman sat crying on the pavement, consoled by family members.

Her son is inside being treated for injures in the face and hands, she says without revealing her or his name. 

“All the injuries are similar, in the face, hands and waist,” a man next to her says. “What’s the point in talking” he says when asked for an on camera interview.

“Should I condemn this? We all know what happened is criminal but no country in the world will do anything about it.”

A person is carried on a stretcher outside American University of Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 17.

Doctors at the American University of Beirut Hospital, where many of the victims are being treated, received nearly 200 patients in the space of just two hours, Chief Medical Officer Salah Zein Eddin told CNN.

All, he said, had close contact blast injuries. Of those, 140 are still being treated, and 30 remain without beds.  

“We were stretched too thin and almost at full capacity,” Eddin said. “But all patients have been stabilized and it is not life-threatening injuries at the moment.” 

Crowds of family members and friends have gathered at the entrance of hospital to hear news of their loved ones.  

Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad, center, speaks to reporters from Beirut International Airport, Lebanon, on September 18.

The number of people killed following Tuesday’s pager attack in Lebanon has risen to 12, including children, according to the country’s health minister. 

Approximately 300 people remain critically wounded Firass Abiad said.

Hospital staff performed 460 operations, mostly on eyes and faces, with many also treating injuries to hands, he added.

People gather outside the American University of Beirut Hospital, on September 18, after exploding pagers left at least 2,800 wounded and killed nine.

CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany is outside the American University of Beirut Hospital.

She tells us what she saw on Wednesday morning before security moved photojournalists away from the entrance:

A young man sat next to the hospital entrance, distraught and red eyes.

Without sharing his name, he shows me a picture of his friend inside the hospital, his entire face and hands bandaged. “He got a message, looked at it and it blew up in his eyes and fingers. Many of the injuries are similar,” he says.

His friend has a surgery at 5 p.m. and they will know then if his eyes could be saved.

The hospital is taking extra measures to protect the confidentiality of the patients inside and their loved ones outside.

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon.

Families in Lebanon could have lived for years next to a member of Hezbollah without ever knowing their neighbor was part of the Iran-backed militant group, the country’s most powerful military and political organization. 

But in one afternoon, that was punctured as thousands of beepers used by its members exploded in people’s hands and on their belts. 

The operation succeeded in temporarily shattering one of the most strategic attributes of Hezbollah: its secrecy. 

The group’s guerilla tactics, developed during Israel’s 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, have made it an elusive enemy. 

The practice of hiding in the shadows largely continues to this day, even though Hezbollah has grown into one of two main parties representing the Shia community, Lebanon’s largest religious bloc. Today, there are 13 elected Hezbollah lawmakers in parliament and posters celebrating Hezbollah martyrs can be seen in many Shiite communities. 

While reporting in the country, I have occasionally encountered members of Hezbollah’s security wing. Always men dressed in civilian clothes and sometimes carrying walkie-talkies, they have asked to check my documents, and several times ordered me to leave an area they said was “sensitive.” 

Their undercover presence was a sharp contrast to the camouflage-uniformed Lebanese Army soldiers, who drive Humvees and guard checkpoints while carrying assault rifles.  

Tuesday’s attack was “a massive blow” to Hezbollah, wrote Amal Saad, an expert on Islamist movements. 

But in one fell swoop, Israel successfully negated that advantage, she said, as thousands of those pagers were turned into lethal weapons. 

It’s unclear whether all of those carrying the explosive pagers were Hezbollah fighters, as the group’s “state within a state” also supports hospitals, schools and other charitable organizations. Some may have also made their way into the hands of ordinary people not affiliated with Hezbollah. 

While Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate against its southern neighbor, one thing is certain: it’s likely trying to hide the extent of the damage to avoid, in part, sharing further secrets with its enemy.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out a “terrorist act” and “genocide” after pagers owned by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding at least 2,800. 

Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the explosions are a “continuation of the complex operations of the Zionist entity and its mercenary agents.”

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those wounded in Beirut, along with two embassy employees, according to Iranian state media. 

Iran backs Hezbollah, which is one of the most powerful militia groups in the Middle East and has been involved in daily exchanges of fire with Israel since the October 7 attacks. 

Kanaani said that the attack, which CNN has learned were the result of a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military, proves that Israel “poses a serious threat to international peace and security.”

Hsu Ching-kuang, founder and president of Gold Apollo, speaks to the media at their office in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on September 18.

A little-known Taiwanese electronics manufacturer has been thrust into the global spotlight after its damaged products were identified in images following the wave of deadly pager explosions targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon.

At the non-descript offices of Gold Apollo on the outskirts of the Taiwanese capital, company founder Hsu Ching-kuang denied making the pagers used in the assault.

“I’ve been going about my own business for 30 years, why am I suddenly roped into this?” Hsu told reporters today, shortly before police officers arrived to investigate.

The production of pagers is highly regulated in Taiwan, with authorities conducting regular inspections, a senior Taiwanese security official told CNN. Gold Apollo’s pagers had met all standards and nothing unusual was found, according to the official.

Gold Apollo has made a range of devices from pagers – wireless devices that can send messages without an internet connection commonly used by emergency services and hospitals – to buzzers used by restaurants since its 1995 founding, according to its website.

It works with distributors worldwide to sell its products, once touting itself as one of the largest suppliers of walkie talkies and pagers in the US and Europe and counting intelligence agencies and emergency services among its clients.

Gold Apollo identified the distributor, a Budapest–based company called BAC Consulting, and said it had licensed its trademark for sales in designated regions.

Read the full story.

People react near an ambulance as the wounded are brought to a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 17, after thousands of people were wounded when Hezbollah members' paging devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon.

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after a wave of pager explosions across Lebanon targeting the militant group killed nine people and wounded nearly 3,000 others. 

An 8-year-old girl was among those killed in the blasts, and at least 170 people are in critical condition after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously on Tuesday.

The unprecedented attack risks further escalating tensions in the Middle East already heightened since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. It also underscores Hezbollah’s vulnerability and follows a series of targeted assassinations against its commanders.

Here’s what we know:

Civil Defense first-responders carry a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded, at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 17.

The deadly wave of pager blasts across Lebanon has shown that Israel can tamper with Hezbollah’s logistics chains, former CIA officer Robert Baer told CNN, saying it was something “that’s typically not easy for anyone” to do.

Baer said, as an example, that it takes 10 to 15 grams of an explosive material called RDX to “do real damage and kill people.”

The scale of damage on Tuesday, in which nine people were killed and over 2,800 wounded, showed that “somewhere between Taiwan and Lebanon,” Israel “have gotten in the middle” and rigged the pagers with explosives.

Hezbollah has long touted secrecy as a cornerstone of its military strategy, forgoing high-tech devices to avoid infiltration from Israeli and US spyware.

CNN has learned that Israel was behind the explosions as part of a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. 

People gather outside a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, as thousands of people were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon on September 17

Hospitals in Lebanon raced to treat a sudden surge of thousands of patients, including Hezbollah members, who were wounded in a coordinated attack targeting hundreds of pagers used by the militant group. 

At least nine people were killed and at least 2,800 wounded in Tuesday’s attack. 

Minister of Public Health Dr Firass Abiad told reporters on Tuesday that about 200 of the wounded were in critical condition requiring surgery or admission to intensive care units, according to state news agency NNA. 

Most of the injuries were to the face, abdomen, hands, and eyes, he said, according to NNA. 

Footage from inside one of the hospitals showed chaotic scenes with staff attending to dozens of men bandaged and bleeding. Patients lay on the floor as people carried in more of the wounded. 

Many of the wounded appeared to have sustained injuries to their limbs and faces. 

Abiad visited several hospitals in the capital, Beirut, on Tuesday evening and then again on Wednesday morning, NNA reported. 

During the visit on Tuesday, he said the Healthy Ministry had started directing the wounded to hospitals outside the capital and its southern suburbs, according to NNA. 

People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Beirut, Lebanon on September 17.

The American University of Beirut Medical Center said it had received more than 190 patients and was operating at full capacity. 

Pagers used in hospitals: The medical center also rebutted what it called “rumors and conspiracy theories” circulated widely online that the facility had changed its paging system before the attack. 

AUBMC added that its paging system had been upgraded in April 2024 and began operating on August 29, 2024. 

Lebanese troops secure a Beirut street following the explosions on September 17.

Hundreds of pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon blew up nearly simultaneously on Tuesday in an unprecedented attack that surpasses a series of covert assassinations and cyber-attacks in the region over recent years in its scope and execution.

The Iran-backed militant group said the wireless devices began to explode around 3:30 p.m. local time in a targeted Israeli attack on its operatives.

The attack killed nine people, including an 8-year-old child, and wounded about 2,800 people.

CNN has learned that Israel was behind the attack, which was a joint operation between Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, and the Israeli military. The Lebanese government condemned the attack as “criminal Israeli aggression.”

Israel’s military, which has engaged in tit-for-tat strikes with Hezbollah since the start of the war with Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza last year, has refused to comment publicly on the explosions.

The pagers that exploded were new and had been purchased by Hezbollah in recent months, a Lebanese security source told CNN.

How did the pagers explode? The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israel hid explosives inside a batch of pagers ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo and destined for Hezbollah. A switch was embedded to detonate them remotely, it added.

What is the purpose of the attacks? At least part of the message to Hezbollah is clear: “We can reach you anywhere, anytime, at the day and moment of our choosing and we can do it at the press of a button,” according to CNN’s Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller.

Who made the pagers? Gold Apollo said the pagers, which bore the company’s mark, had been made by a European distributor. Taiwan has no record of Gold Apollo pagers being shipped to Lebanon or the Middle East, a senior Taiwanese security official told CNN.

Read the full story.

Hsu Ching-kuang, head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media outside the company's office in New Taipei City on September 18.

Taiwan has no record of Gold Apollo pagers being shipped to Lebanon or the Middle East, a senior Taiwanese security official told CNN on Wednesday, following the apparent use of the firm’s devices in a deadly attack targeting Hezbollah.

Gold Apollo shipped about 260,000 pagers from Taiwan between the start of 2022 to August 2024, mostly to the United States and Australia, the official told CNN.

Gold Apollo’s founder and chairperson, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters earlier on Wednesday that a distributor made the pagers used in the attack.

Gold Apollo said the AR-924 model pagers mentioned in reports were designed and made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT.

Multiple photos from Lebanon shared on social media appear to show damaged Gold Apollo pagers as speculation mounts over how low-tech wireless communication devices could have been exploited in the attack, which killed multiple people and wounded thousands.

This post has been updated with more information.

People gather around an ambulance carrying wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, at the emergency entrance of the American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 17.

Eyewitnesses have described to CNN how people lay wounded in the streets of the Lebanese capital following the deadly pager explosions on Tuesday.  

One witness, who spoke to CNN outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center and asked not to be named, citing fears for his safety, described going outside in a southern Beirut suburb after reading about the explosions online. 

Injured people were lying scattered on the roads, he said, adding that some of his friends were among the wounded. 

Another witness, who also asked not to be named over fears for his safety, said he had been driving to work when he saw Red Cross ambulances and people lying on the ground. 

The second witness said he had gone to a hospital to visit a friend who had been carrying one of the pagers when it exploded. 

The pagers used to attack members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah were made by a Hungary-based distributor, BAC Consulting KFT, according to Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo.

Multiple images shared on social media appear to show damaged Gold Apollo pagers. CNN cannot geolocate the images but has verified they were published on Tuesday, the same day as the explosions. At least one pager shown in the images was a Gold Apollo AR-924 model. 

The company said Wednesday that it had signed a contract with BAC to use the Gold Apollo brand.

Gold Apollo later said it had a “long-term partnership” with BAC, which is based in Budapest, Hungary.

At first, the distributor only imported Gold Apollo’s other pager and communication products, the Taiwanese company’s founder and chairperson Hsu Ching-kuang earlier told reporters.

Later, the company told Gold Apollo they wanted to make their own pagers and asked for the right to use the Taiwanese company’s brand, he said.  

Hsu said his firm established a relationship with the distributor about three years ago, and that it had encountered at least one anomaly in its dealings with them, citing a wire transfer that took a long time to clear. 

BAC’s website describes it as “agents of change with a network of consultants,” finding solutions on international relations, the environment, and development and innovation. 

CNN has reached out to BAC for a response. 

This post has been updated with more information.

An image of a damaged pager circulating on social media. CNN could not geolocate the attached image taken from social media,but has verified that they were published on Tuesday, the same day as the explosions.

Photos that appear to show damaged Gold Apollo pagers have been shared on social media, alongside claims that they were damaged in Lebanon’s wave of pager explosions on Tuesday.

CNN cannot geolocate the images but has verified that they were published on Tuesday, the same day as the explosions. At least one pager shown in the images is the Gold Apollo AR924 model. 

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israel hid explosives inside a batch of pagers ordered from Gold Apollo and destined for Hezbollah. 

Most of the pagers were the company’s AP924 model but three other Gold Apollo models were included in the shipment, the Times reported.

CNN previously reported that the pagers had been purchased by Hezbollah in recent months, according to a Lebanese security source.

Hezbollah has long touted secrecy as a cornerstone of its military strategy, forgoing high-tech devices to avoid infiltration from Israeli and US spyware.

In a televised address over six months ago, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah called on Hezbollah members and their families in southern Lebanon, where fighting with Israeli forces across the border has raged for nearly a year, to forgo their cell phones.

“The collaborator (with the Israelis) is the cell phone in your hands, and those of your wife and your children. This cell phone is the collaborator and the killer,” he said in his fiery speech.

Unlike other non-state actors in the Middle East, Hezbollah units are believed to communicate through an internal communications network.

This is considered one of the key building blocks of the powerful group that has long been accused of operating as a state-within-a-state.

The pagers – for decades obsolete to most people in Lebanon – would have served to prompt Hezbollah members to contact one another through those phone lines.

In addition to causing a mass-casualty event across several parts of Lebanon, the apparent infiltration of those pagers, one step removed from their actual networks, will have rattled the Iran-backed group.

In its bid to escape Israel’s radar, its back-to-basics approach appears to have literally backfired in a way that they would have least expected.

People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon September 17.

Is it a prelude to a wider attack or the totality of the message to Hezbollah? This is the key question for the next 48 hours in the Middle East, as the Lebanese militant group comes to terms with the wholesale disruption and violation of their most sacred communications.

Tuesday’s wave of explosions in Lebanon will likely scar the Party, as they are often known, who pride themselves on secrecy, and the technological omerta their members adhere to. Yet it is their very bid to keep their secrets – using low-tech pagers and not more trackable smartphones – that appears to have led to several deaths and thousands of injuries.

It will have caused a seismic shock with Hezbollah members to now be asking not only if it is safe to contact their colleagues but if those colleagues are unharmed.

Israel has characteristically not claimed responsibility, but if it was behind the attack as Lebanon and Hezbollah say, then the question is whether this vast and unprecedented assault was intended to presage a wider fight.

It would make strategic sense to dispense a moment of intense chaos like this just before a bigger onslaught on the group militarily.

The timing is telling. Just on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a meeting with the US envoy Amos Hochstein that the time for diplomacy with Hezbollah had passed, and military might could take center stage. Hours later, their enemy’s entire communications infrastructure was hit with an attack that, according to a Lebanese security source, used pagers purchased by Hezbollah in “recent months,” necessitating a long lead time in the operation’s planning.

Read the full analysis.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke twice with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on Tuesday, according to two US defense officials.

The officials would not specify at exactly what time the two calls took place. 

Though Austin and Gallant are in regular contact, it’s uncommon to schedule two calls in one day and shows how seriously the US views the situation in Lebanon. When Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel on April 13, the two also spoke twice.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said only that the two “spoke by phone today” without specifying how many times.