A Lebanese security source and an eyewitness said that “walkie-talkies” exploded on Wednesday in several areas of Lebanon. “The devices were portable radios and different from the pagers that exploded on Tuesday,” the source told Reuters.
The source added that Hezbollah bought the portable radios five months ago, around the same time as it bought the pagers, while Axios quoted two sources as saying that Israel had blown up thousands of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members.
Lebanese Health Minister, Firas Al-Abyad, announced Wednesday that the number of dead who fell yesterday reached 12 dead until this hour, including two children (a girl aged 8 years and a boy aged 11 years), and several health sector workers.
As for the number of wounded, it ranged between 2750 and 2800, and their distribution was by region, about 750 in the south, 150 in the Bekaa, and about 1850 in the Beirut and southern suburbs.
Al-Abyad pointed out that about 300 patients were in critical condition, and many of them are still in their condition, as for the injuries, there are in the face area, and the impact on breathing, as some needed artificial respiration, and some of the injuries are related to brain haemorrhage and others, and about two-thirds of the wounded needed hospitalization.
He pointed out that 4 health sector workers in hospitals in the southern suburbs area had pagers in their possession and they exploded, leading to their death.
The Lebanese Minister of Health stated: “1,800 patients needed to be hospitalized, and 460 operations were performed, most of which were related to the eyes and face, and amputations of fingers and hands, and nearly 100 hospitals participated in receiving the wounded, in addition to 1,184 ambulances.”
He further pointed out that wounded people were evacuated from the Bekaa region to Syria, and some cases will be evacuated to Iran, but in general, 98% or more of the cases are receiving treatment in Lebanon.
Al-Abyad also pointed out that the government has previously announced and reiterated its positions that it does not want war and calls for a ceasefire from Gaza to Lebanon, indicating that the fear remains of the situation worsening, hence the biggest challenge is to restore the sector’s readiness and obtain aid.
Meanwhile, Lebanese government officials said in media statements that “there is an increase in the state of readiness and an intensification of meetings if military operations develop, especially in terms of accommodating larger numbers of displaced persons.” They indicated that meetings and measures are being taken in anticipation of the worst-case scenario. The sources pointed out that “the food stock is sufficient and secure for more than three months.”
Arab and Muslim countries announced their solidarity with Lebanon and offered to provide aid, following the Israeli occupation’s penetration of pagers belonging to Hezbollah elements in the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in the south, and then detonated them, which led to the death of nine martyrs and thousands of injuries.
Solidarity was expressed by Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Palestine, and Yemen, via phone calls, statements and publications.
On Wednesday, a Royal Jordanian Air Force aid plane of the “130C” type departed for Lebanon, following the explosions that targeted communication devices used by Hezbollah elements on Tuesday.
According to the official website of the Jordanian Armed Forces, the plane sent by the Armed Forces, in coordination with the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization, carries food, medical and relief supplies. The aid aims to support the health sector in Lebanon and help it overcome this incident.
Moreover, an Iraqi military plane carrying a cargo of medical supplies arrived at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday morning and was received by caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.
At the same time, the Hebrew Walla website reported on Wednesday, quoting three unnamed senior American officials, that Israel decided on Tuesday to blow up pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria for fear that the party might be able to discover the security breach in the aforementioned communication devices shortly.
The Israeli army radio also reported that a decision was issued to transfer the 98th Division from Gaza to the northern border with Lebanon, due to the state of maximum alert.
