Raw anger and real fear on streets of Lebanon after deadly pager and radio explosions
There’s raw anger and real fear on the streets of Lebanon after two days of multiple explosions involving communication devices.
Less than 24 hours after the country was plunged into a major emergency with more than a dozen killed and nearly three thousand casualties being admitted to 90 hospitals, there was panic and deaths again.
There were numerous explosions, this time involving two-way radios being used by primarily Hezbollah operatives, security and supporters.
Thousands had gathered in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to attend funerals for four people killed during the pager explosions just one day earlier – among them a young boy.
But barely had the funerals begun and as mourners were just beginning to pay their condolences, we heard the sound of an explosion a short distance away followed by shouts and screams.
Mourners attend the funeral of people who were killed amid the detonation of pagers across Lebanon. Pic: Reuters
As we made our way to the site of the explosion, people were running in the opposite direction. We saw a crying mother holding on to her young child who was also sobbing, hurriedly trying to make their way out of the area.
A gaggle of men huddled together, one of them had blood smeared down his arm. An ambulance roared through the crowd to pick up the casualties, although as the funeral cortege continued undeterred, it was difficult to determine the numbers amid the mayhem.
We spotted members of Hezbollah, which is designated as a terror group by the UK and US, gathering handheld radios and taking them out of the area, their batteries removed.
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Fresh blasts heard at funeral for Hezbollah members
Much of our filming was curtailed by angry, aggressive men wearing all-black clothes who appeared to be Hezbollah officials or supporters, although none of them identified themselves.
Many insisted we did not film what was happening in front of us by putting their hands in front of the camera lens and on one occasion attempting to snatch the mobile phone I was broadcasting on. As my colleague Chris Cunningham remonstrated with him, his mobile phone was taken and whisked away.
A walkie-talkie which exploded in a home in Baalbek, east Lebanon. Pic: AP
There is a lot of anxiety on display here and that is translating into red-rage anger.
‘Silence speaks volumes’
The Sky News team has been speaking to those close to the Hezbollah inner circle and there is both embarrassment and concern that the fighting group’s communications network has been so demonstrably compromised.
You won’t find many here who do not view Israel as responsible for these attacks.
The Israeli authorities have neither confirmed or denied their involvement but as my Sky colleague Alistair Bunkall put it: “The silence speaks volumes.”
Many within Hezbollah fear – much the same way as the UN secretary general has been speculating – that this widespread attack on the group’s communications may be a prelude to a more serious attack, even a ground invasion.
But doing the social media rounds are also plenty of theories that this may be Israel’s way of forcing Hezbollah to back down.
The atmosphere in Lebanon will not have been improved on hearing the Israeli prime minister, hours after the radio explosions, vow to return his citizens to their homes in north Israel.
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Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war
About 90,000 Israelis have been displaced from the area because of almost daily shelling by Hezbollah fighters along the disputed border.
Israel’s cross-border attacks into Lebanon have similarly displaced large numbers of Lebanese from its southern border – an estimated 120,000.
Read more:
How does a pager explode?
Explosions will cause immense embarrassment and sow chaos
Israel’s defence minister will have also sent temperatures rising with his declaration they were entering a “new phase” of the war and were going to concentrate on the north, alongside Gaza and retrieving their hostages.
A mixture of fragments and blood stains
Where one of the two-way radios had exploded in the suburb of Dahiyeh, the street was a mixture of fragments and blood stains.
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A car bonnet had been left speckled with blood and we spotted blood smeared inside on the seats.
They appeared to be small explosions but by the end of the day, the death toll was still rising, outstripping those killed 24 hours earlier.
Along with the rising number of dead, there was a definite increase in fear and worry over the safety of any and every communications device.
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Lebanon: How did the blasts happen?
The UN Security Council will discuss the dramatic turn of events at a meeting this Friday.
But earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad told us where he saw the blame.
“This is an act of aggression against non-combatants… you know, community people,” he said.
“Even if some of them [victims] are combatants, this is a non-discriminatory attack….and the use of this non-discriminatory force or attacks which, will clearly affect civilians, is in my mind against international law.”
Alex Crawford reports from Beirut with cameraman Jake Britton, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Lebanon team Jihad Jneid, Hwaida Saad and Sami Zein.
World
Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed – as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire
Israel has confirmed its forces have killed Hamas’s Gaza chief, Mohammad Sinwar, as US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called the group’s counter-offer on a ceasefire “totally unacceptable”.
Mohammad Sinwar became the leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip after his older brother Yahya Sinwar was killed last October.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar on 13 May, and was the target of a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza.
Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday that he had been “eliminated”.
A handout image of Mohammed Sinwar from December 2023. Pic: Israeli Army / Reuters
Hamas seeks changes in US ceasefire proposal
It comes as Hamas said it was seeking amendments to a US-proposed ceasefire deal, offering 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
On Thursday, the White House said Israel agreed to a 60-day ceasefire proposal, which would see the release of nine living hostages and half of the known hostages who have died over the course of a week.
Israel and Hamas would then continue talks to bring the remaining hostages home, but Israel would retain the right to resume military action in Gaza if talks were to break down.
In a statement about the proposal on Saturday, Hamas said its response “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip”.
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Israeli ambassador claims ‘no starvation in Gaza’
Hamas offer ‘totally unacceptable’ – Witkoff
Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Mr Witkoff, said on social media that Hamas’s response is “totally unacceptable and only takes us backwards”.
“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he added.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters that the group has not rejected the proposal but added Mr Witkoff’s response was “unfair” and showed “complete bias” towards Israel.
Israel has not yet responded to Hamas’ counter-offer, but has previously rejected the conditions and demanded the complete disarmament and dismantling of the group.
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Meanwhile, Gaza aid groups have said dozens of World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people.
The WFP added: “After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by.”
Read more:
Last hospital in northern Gaza out of service
How the new Gaza aid system collapsed into chaos
UK will ‘seek to do more if it can’ for Gaza children – Lammy
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Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation”.
Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead, it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies.
At least seven people have died in a train derailment in Russia which happened after a bridge collapsed.
Local authorities have blamed “illegal interference” for the incident in Bryansk region.
The train was travelling from Moscow to Klimov when it came off its tracks, killing the driver and six others. An infant was among 28 people taken to hospital.
Pic: Moscow Transport Prosecutor’s Office
Emergency workers are at the scene attempting to pull survivors from the wreckage.
Russian media reported that the passenger train crashed into the collapsed bridge.
There were a series of clashes with riot police in the French capital after Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time on Saturday night.
Flares and fireworks were set off in Paris after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich – the biggest ever victory in a Champions League final.
Around 5,400 police were deployed across Paris after the game, with officers using tear gas and pepper spray on the Champs Elysees.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At the top of the Champs-Élysées, a water cannon was used to protect the Place de l’Étoile, near the landmark Arc de Triomphe.
Police said a large crowd not watching the match tried to push through a barrier to make contact with officers.
Some 131 arrests were made, including 30 who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs-Élysées.
Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, police said.
PSG striker Ousmane Dembele appealed for calm in a post-match interview with Canal+, saying: “Let’s celebrate this but not tear everything up in Paris.”
Pics: AP
After the full-time whistle in Germany, thousands of supporters also tried to rush the field at the Allianz Arena.
Police lined up in front of the PSG end of the stadium at the final whistle, but struggled to contain the fans for several minutes when they came down from the stands following the trophy presentation.
Pics: AP
Desire Doue, the 19-year-old who scored two goals and assisted one in the final, said after the game: “I don’t have words. But what I can say is, ‘Thank you Paris,’ we did it.”
Despite being an Olympique de Marseille supporter, French President Emmanuel Macron also said on social media: “A glorious day for PSG!
“Bravo, we are all proud. Paris, the capital of Europe this evening.”
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Mr Macron’s office said the president would receive the players at the Elysee Palace on Sunday.
The team are also expected to parade down the Champs Elysees.
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