After pagers, Israel blows up Hezbollah walkie-talkies as the world witnesses rise of a new kind of war
The world is witnessing a new kind of asymmetric warfare where simple communication devices are being turned into weapons of war. Just a day after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded, killing nine and injuring close to 3,000 others, another wave of explosions rocked Lebanon and Syria on Wednesday.
Hezbollah walkie-talkies explode
In the second wave, walkie-talkies used by the Iran-backed Shia militia group exploded, in what appeared to be a coordinated strike similar to what happened a day earlier. The walkie-talkie explosions killed 20 people and wounded more than 450 others in Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold.
The walkie-talkies that exploded on Wednesday were manufactured by the Japanese firm Icom, which said it was investigating the matter.
More bad news for?Hezbollah
The two serial blasts that have killed dozens and injured thousands of its fighters have put the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has been involved in near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since Hamas's October 7 attacks sparked the war in Gaza, on the back foot.
Hezbollah has been using low-tech devices like pagers and walkie-talkies for their communication, due to fears that Israel could use more sophisticated devices like smartphones to spy on them. However, this move has now backfired, with Hezbollah's internal communication lines being effectively crippled due to the twin serial explosions.
Also read:?How Mossad turned the outdated pager into a weapon against Hezbollah
New phase of war:?Israel
Though Israel has not officially acknowledged that it was behind the two serial blasts, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday declared the start of a "new phase" in the war.
"We are at the start of a new phase in the war¡ªwe are allocating resources and forces to the northern arena, and our mission is clear: ensuring the safe return of Israel's northern communities to their homes. To do so, the security situation must be changed," Gallant said on X.
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