Another Day Of Explosions In Lebanon, 9 Killed, 300 Injured ~ OsazuwaAkonedo #Beirut #Egypt #GoldApollo #Iran #Israel #Lebanon #Pagers #Taiwan https://osazuwaakonedo.news/another-day-of-explosions-in-lebanon-9-killed-300-injured/18/09/2024/ #Breaking News Published: September 18th, 2024 Reshared: September 19, 2024 5:33 am Wednessday evening came another day of multiple explosions in Lebanon,
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00:00Wednesday evening came another day of multiple explosions in Lebanon, killing about 9 persons
00:06and injured estimated 300 others as residents reported multiple communication devices, vehicle
00:12batteries, motor and scooter batteries, solar batteries, timer batteries, computers, mobile
00:19phones, chevers, neon batteries exploding. Just barely 24 hours, Peja's explosions killed 12
00:27persons and injured over 2,800 others with some currently in a critical condition in the hospital.
00:35Wednesday explosions were reported in Beirut and other multiple parts of Lebanon including
00:40during a funeral ceremony where some of the victims of Tuesday attacks were being buried.
00:46Videos posted online by residents showed fires broke out in homes and vehicles,
00:51with victims rushed to hospitals with severe injuries.
00:55Hezbollah officials and state media reported Wednesday that walkie-talkies and even solar
01:01equipment detonated. The Lebanon Health Ministry was earlier quoted to have said that one person
01:07died during the Wednesday explosions and over 100 others sustained injuries but the figures
01:12have since risen, according to local media. Several blasts were held at the funeral in
01:19Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding Peja's the day before,
01:24according to associated press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal
01:30city of Sidon reported a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them.
01:38Reuters also reported on Wednesday that smoke billows out of a mobile phone shop in Sidon
01:44after handheld radios used by Hezbollah detonated. Lebanon's south and in Beirut's
01:49southern suburbs, a security source and a witness said. The explosions occurred a day after Peja's
01:57used by Hezbollah blew up, killing at least 12 and injuring thousands. Israel's Iron Dome
02:03also intercepted missiles on the second day of explosions in Lebanon. There was no comment
02:10from Israel on the walkie-talkie explosions. Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives
02:16in Hezbollah's Taiwan-made Peja's the day before, sources tell Reuters. We had reported that Gold
02:23Apollo has denied being the producer of the Peja telecommunication device reportedly used by
02:28Hezbollah members in recent times to evade Israeli armed forces tracking their locations,
02:33which on Tuesday appeared to have been rigged in highly populated areas in Lebanon causing
02:38explosions as holders of the Peja's go into public places doing their normal daily businesses.
02:44Health ministry in Lebanon said on Wednesday that a total of 12 persons have been confirmed dead
02:50while 2,800 have been in the hospitals across Lebanon with sustained injuries from the Tuesday
02:56multiple Peja's explosions across Beirut. Taiwan's Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that
03:03consulting KFT based in Budapest has a license to use its brand and made the model of Peja's
03:09used in the detonations in Lebanon a day earlier. According to AFP report regarding the AR-924
03:18Peja model mentioned in the recent media reports, we clarify that this model is produced and sold
03:24by BAC. Gold Apollo said in a statement as he met with journalists at his office in Taiwan.
03:32HSU said the Pejas used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right
03:38to use the Taiwanese firm's brand. Reuters reported the Wednesday meeting with journalists
03:43at the Taiwanese Peja firm. Gold Apollo said it had only licensed out its brand to the company
03:49and was not involved in the production of the devices. According to a senior Lebanese security
03:56source and another source, explosives inside the devices were planted by Israel's Mossad spy
04:02agency. Images of destroyed Pejas analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back
04:08that were consistent with Pejas made by Gold Apollo. The product was not ours, it was only
04:15that it had our brand on it. Gold Apollo founder and president HSU Ching Kwan told reporters at
04:23the company's offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday. The company said
04:29in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC. Gold Apollo authorized back to
04:39use our brand trademark for product sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing
04:45of the products are entirely handled by BAC, the statement said. Reuters calls and emails to back
04:52on Wednesday morning were not answered. HSU said earlier there had been problems with remittances
04:59from the firm. The remittance was very strange, he said, adding that payments had come through the
05:06Middle East. He did not elaborate further. Henceforth, fighters began using Pejas in the belief
05:13they would be able to evade Israeli tracking of their locations. Two sources familiar with the
05:18group's operations told Reuters this year. HSU said he did not know how the Pejas could have been
05:25rigged to explode. While HSU was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company.
05:33Officials from Taiwan's economy ministry also visited Gold Apollo. The ministry said in a
05:39statement that there was no record of direct Peja exports from Taiwan to Lebanon. HSU also said
05:46Gold Apollo was a victim of the incident and planned to sue the licensee.
05:51We may not be a large company, but we are a responsible one, he said. This is very embarrassing,
05:59according to Reuters on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the exploded Pejas killed 12 people in Lebanon,
06:06including two children, the country's health minister said on Wednesday, updating the toll
06:12a day after the blast slammed on Israel. Hundreds of the wireless devices exploded simultaneously
06:19across Lebanon on Tuesday, hours after Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war
06:25to include its fight against Hezbollah. Israel has yet to comment on the unprecedented attacks.
06:32On Wednesday, Lebanese health minister Fares Abia said 12 people were killed and between 2,750
06:40and 2,800 others were wounded, revising the toll up from nine dead. After checking with all the
06:48hospitals, the toll was revised to 12 dead, including two children, Abia told a news conference.
06:56The dead included a girl and a boy, as well as four health workers from private hospitals in
07:02Beirut's southern suburbs who had Pejas, he said. Abia said that the attack was very big,
07:09with about 2,800 wounded people pouring into Lebanese hospitals within half an hour.
07:16The Pejas went off in the Iran-backed Hezbollah group's main strongholds of southern Beirut and
07:22Lebanon's east and south. Some cases in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley were transferred to Syria,
07:29while other cases would be evacuated to Iran, he added. About 750 wounded people were in the south,
07:37around 150 were in the Bekaa valley and some 1,850 were in Beirut and its southern suburbs,
07:45he said. A little less than 300 patients are in critical condition, with some suffering from
07:52face injuries and brain hemorrhaging, Abia said. The wounded who arrived at the emergency room
07:59were not all young men. We saw children and elderly people, Abia said, according to AFP reports.
08:08The Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah has vowed to take revenge after blaming Israel for
08:13detonating Pejas on Tuesday that killed 12 people and wounded 2,800 others, including many of the
08:20militant group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Reuters reports that the country's
08:26information minister Ziad Makkari has condemned the destruction of the Pejas used by Hezbollah
08:31and others in Lebanon to communicate. Egypt Today magazine reported that Egypt has restated
08:38its unwavering keenness on Lebanon's security and stability and the non-violation of its sovereignty
08:44by any external party. Following the tragic detonation of Peja devices across Lebanon on
08:50Tuesday, Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Baga Abdelati reached out to Lebanon's Prime Minister
08:57Najib Mikati and Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Bouhabi,
09:02conveying Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's reaffirmation of this support.
09:07Sisi has directed Abdelati to proudly engage with Lebanese officials,
09:12affirm full support to Lebanon, and offer the provision of all possible forms of assistance
09:18in the wake of this tragic incident, read a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
09:24In his discussions, Abdelati reiterated a caution against the escalating regional
09:29tensions and warned against pushing the region into an all-out war. He highlighted the alarming
09:35and swift developments unfolding in southern Lebanon as ominous signs that the region stands
09:41on the brink of a perilous turning point due to irresponsible and reckless unilateral actions,
09:46read the statement. The foreign minister underscored the critical importance of
09:52averting further escalation through an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,
09:56a cessation of Israeli assaults in the West Bank, and a swift deal ensuring the release
10:01of captives and prisoners alongside unimpeded access to humanitarian and medical aid in Gaza.
10:08CNN revealed that the assault was a coordinated effort between Israel's intelligence service,
10:14the Mossad, and the Israeli military. Israel hid explosives in the gold Apollo Pejas before
10:20they were imported to Lebanon, the New York Times reported, citing American and other officials
10:27briefed on the operation. The Israeli intelligence added a switch to the device for remote detonation,
10:34Egypt Today magazine reported. France 24 few hours ago also reported that the U.S. Secretary
10:41of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other
10:46Egyptian officials on Wednesday in his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began
10:52nearly one year ago. Blinken is expected to hold a press conference with Foreign Minister Bada Abdelati
10:59but will not be visiting Israel in this round of diplomacy. The top U.S. diplomat's visit comes
11:06as the region remains on high alert, particularly after militant group Hezbollah promised to
11:11retaliate against Israel, accusing it of detonating Pejas across Lebanon on Tuesday,
11:17France 24 reported. In another development, the Lebanese Minister of Education has directed the
11:24closure of all public and private schools, including universities, on Wednesday in
11:30condemnation for a mass Peja attack that killed 12 persons and wounded 2,800 others across Lebanon.
11:37The minister, Abbas Al-Halabi, said schools and universities across Lebanon will close to
11:44condemn the criminal act committed by the Israeli enemy against Lebanese citizens.
11:50Most of the victims suffered injuries to the hand, while some were also injured in the face,
11:56abdomen and the eyes, according to the health ministry.