(17 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut – 17 September 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
"Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded in Lebanon and parts of Syria Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding 2,750 others, according to government and Hezbollah officials. Among the killed were two members of the powerful Hezbollah group and a girl. The Iranian ambassador was also likely wounded. Photos and videos from Beirut’s southern suburbs circulating on social media and local media showed people laying on the pavement with wounds on their hands or near their pants pockets. Hezbollah blamed Israel and vowed to retaliate. The Israeli military declined comment. The group said that the pagers belonged to its members, but didn’t disclose further details on the incident. We don’t yet know whether any senior members of the militant group had those pagers in their possession as well. Meanwhile, hospitals across the tiny country have been jam packed with wounded people. AP photographers at area hospitals said the emergency rooms were overloaded with patients, many of them with injuries to their limbs, some in serious condition. Now, this incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel as Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for over 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip."
2. Various of aftermath following explosion of pager in car, police inspecting vehicle
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nabatiyeh, Lebanon – 17 September 2024
3. Wide of Ambulances
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut – 17 September 2024
4. Various of ambulances driving past
5. Wounded people
6. STILL of people gathered outside hospital
7. Various STILLS of people inside hospital
8. Various of ambulance arriving at hospital
STORYLINE:
Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people – including an 8-year-old girl — and wounding several thousand, officials said.
They blamed Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack.
The mysterious incident came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza.
The pagers that exploded had been newly acquired by Hezbollah after the group’s leader ordered members to stop using cell phones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence. A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the pagers were a new brand the group had not used before.
At about 3:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, pagers started heating up and then exploding in the pockets and hands of those carrying them — particularly in a southern Beirut suburb and the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon where Hezbollah has a strong presence, and in Damascus, where several Hezbollah members were wounded, Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official said. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.
The AP reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.
The explosions came hours after Israel’s internal security agency said it had foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to kill a former senior Israeli security official using a planted explosive device that could be remotely detonated.
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