Hezbollah in Lebanon was in shambles on Thursday, just hours before its embattled leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a big speech. The bombings were part of a second fatal wave of extraordinary blasts in the organization’s strongholds.
A full-scale conflict with Israel is being fueled by the most recent round of device explosions, which, according to authorities, left 20 people dead and over 450 injured on Wednesday.
The explosions occurred one day after Hezbollah’s pagers detonated simultaneously throughout Lebanon, killing 12 people—including two children—and injuring up to 2,800 more in an unprecedented strike that Israel was held accountable for.
According to a person close to the organization, walkie-talkies used by its members blew up in the most recent explosions near Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut. State media also reported similar explosions in south and east Lebanon.
When an explosion occurred during a burial for Hezbollah members in south Beirut in the afternoon, AFPTV footage showed people running for their lives.
The health ministry of Lebanon released a statement stating, “The wave of enemy blasts that targeted walkie talkies… killed 20 people and hospitalized more than 450.”
Israel remained silent, despite having stated just hours prior to Tuesday’s blasts that it was expanding the scope of its attack in Gaza to include combating Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.
