The report said walkie-talkies and even solar equipment were targeted a day after hundreds of pagers blew up.
At least 20 people were killed and 450 were wounded on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said. Another nine killed on Tuesday
A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded.
Lebanon’s official news agency reported that solar energy systems exploded in homes in several areas of Beirut and southern Lebanon, wounding at least one girl.
The new blasts hit a country thrown into confusion and anger after Tuesday’s pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too.
At least 12 people were killed, including two children, and about 2,800 people were wounded as hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded wherever they happened to be — in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes.
Wednesday’s blasts caused fires, injuries and a state of hysteria because some of the devices were being carried by security personnel during the funeral ceremonies for the victims of the pager explosions on Tuesday.
Explosions were heard in the southern suburbs of Beirut and several areas in the south and the Bekaa Valley.
Many were injured outside hospitals where the wounded from Tuesday’s bombings were being treated. Several of the wounded were transferred to Baalbek hospitals.
Some devices exploded with their carriers in front of the American University Hospital in Beirut.
Four cars containing devices exploded in the town of Aabbassiyeh in the south, three people were injured when a device exploded in a car in Jdeidet Marjeyoun, and parked cars exploded in Nabatieh because there were wireless devices in them.
Ambulances rushed everywhere, and Hezbollah supporters went out on motorcycles searching for victims after abandoning all their communication devices.
The Lebanese Army Command asked citizens “not to gather in places witnessing security incidents to make way for the arrival of medical teams.”
According to initial information, the devices that exploded on Wednesday are Icom V82 models, bought in the deal for pagers last spring.
Panic increased when information circulated on social media about the explosion of solar panels connected to internet devices. There were also claims that computers exploded.
A Hezbollah member in a video clip that showed a room with shrapnel damage, said: “This was because of the device’s battery. I removed it from the device and put it aside. Look what happened.”
Footage showed fires in residential apartments in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the south, and casualties during funeral ceremonies after their devices exploded.
The Axios website reported that “Israel blew up thousands of wireless communication devices used by Hezbollah elements in a second wave.”
In the first wave of bombings, it appeared that small amounts of explosives had been hidden in the thousands of pagers delivered to Hezbollah and then remotely detonated.
The reports of further electronic devices exploding suggested even greater infiltration of boobytraps into Lebanon’s supply chain.
It also deepens concerns over the attacks in which hundreds of devices exploded in public areas, often with many bystanders, with no certainty of who was holding the rigged devices.Just as crowds had gathered to mourn some of those killed in Tuesday’s wave of pager-bomb attacks, an explosion sparked chaos in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut.
A video captured the blast, showing a man lying on the ground and panicked people, some screaming, running away.
All this, moments before funerals were due to start for an 11-year-old boy and three Hezbollah members killed the previous day.
In the surrounding area there was bedlam as the sound of the explosion echoed through the streets. The chants stopped. Those gathered looked at each other, some incredulous.
As reports spread that this was part of a second wave of explosions now targeting walkie-talkies, no electronic equipment was considered safe.
Hezbollah supporters stopped our team several times, demanding we did not use our phones or our camera.
Lebanese officials said at least 20 people were killed and 450 others wounded across the the country, with fires said to have broken out in dozens of homes, shops, and vehicles.
Already, the latest attacks are being seen as another humiliation for the Iranian-backed group, and a possible indication that its entire communication network may have been infiltrated by Israel.
This is a country still shocked and angered by what happened on Tuesday, when thousands of pagers exploded in that synchronised attack, after users received a message they believed had come from Hezbollah.
The devices detonated as people were in shops, or with their families at home, killing 12 including an eight-year-old girl and the 11-year-old boy, and injuring around 2,800.
Dr Elias Warrak told the BBC it was “the worst day of [his] life as a physician”. At least 60% of the people he had seen had lost at least one eye, he said, with many also losing finger or a whole hand.
“I believe the number of casualties and the type of damage that has been done is humongous,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were not able to save a lot of eyes, and unfortunately the damage is not limited to the eyes – some of them have damage in the brain in addition to any facial damage.”
Reports suggest a shipment of pagers may have been rigged with explosives, before being detonated remotely.
Hezbollah had distributed the pagers amid concerns that smartphones were being used by the Israeli military and intelligence agencies to track down and kill its members. It was still not clear how Wednesday’s attacks might have been carried out.
Getty Images A radio device exploded in the city of Baalbek is seen as wireless communications device explosions across Lebanon have killed 9 people and injured more than 300, according to initial estimates in Baalbek, Lebanon on September 18, 2024. Getty Images
Exploding pagers and walkie-talkies caused damage in homes and injured thousands across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday
But Hezbollah has vowed to respond, blaming Israel for the attacks. As usual, Israel has not commented.
Fears are, again, rising that the current violence between the two rivals, which has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border, could escalate into an all-out war.
Hezbollah says its attacks on Israel, which started almost a year ago, are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and that they will only stop with a ceasefire, an elusive possibility for now.
Mourners who spoke to the BBC at the Dahiyeh funeral also struck a defiant tone.
One young man said: “The pain is huge, physical and in the heart. But this is something we are used to, and we will continue with our resistance."
A 45-year-old woman told the BBC: "This will make us stronger, whoever has lost an eye will fight with the other eye and we are all standing together.”
Hours after the latest explosions, the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said his country was “at the start of a new phase in the war”, as the 98th division of the Israeli army relocated from Gaza to the north of Israel.
Up until now, Hezbollah has indicated that is is not interested in another major war with Israel, as Lebanon struggles to recover from a years-long economic crisis. Many here say a conflict is not in the country’s interests.
But some will certainly demand a strong response. An indication of what Hezbollah might be planning to do could come on Thursday, in the first public reaction by its powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
