(20 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut, Lebanon – 20 September 2024
1. Wide of electrical equipment
2. Various of telecommunications engineer Nabil Balaa working on electrical board
3. Various of walkie-talkies
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nabil Balaa, telecommunications engineer:
“After what happened, the reaction has not been very clear. But I received numerous calls from customers asking how to hide their devices and what precautions to take, whether to hide their devices, to take out the battery. You know, people fear what they don’t understand. Today the devices in the market are not connected to what happened. The problem is with specific devices going to specific people. It was not distributed in the market or amongst the traders and institutions."
5. Various of walkie-talkie
6. SOUNDBITE Arabic) Nabil Balaa, telecommunications engineer:
“ICOM – it’s called ICOM ICV 82, this brand has not been produced in over 10 years. These devices that they brought are a copy. They are not the original Japanese IKOM or from the representative. Someone came into the picture and manufactured these, with the help of Mossad (Israel’s secret service), and they inserted the explosive. These devices in the market have not had any problems.”
7. Various of phone shop owner Samah Almasri stocking shop
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samah Almasri, owner of phone shop:
“This strike especially, the blow to Hezbollah, has greatly affected our sales, especially for phones. Everyone is now throwing their phones out of their hands; they are all afraid. They feel like all phones are being monitored, and this has affected us a lot."
9. Various of Hamra high street
10. Various of shop owner Mohammad Alrayess reading a newspaper
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammad Alrayess, shop owner:
"What happened was a calculated action. As for the other devices in the hands of citizens, they are quite ordinary. However, this doesn’t prevent the Israelis from using solar energy, and modern TVs and air conditioners, they have advanced technology. We need to be more aware of this."
12. Various of man using mobile phone and reading from newspaper shack
13. Various of man sitting on sidewalk and using phone.
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Naji Karam,local resident:
“There are people who are afraid, of course, and others who are not. I am not afraid; I have my phone with me. However, those new mobile phones coming from abroad can be concerning. But honestly, I’m not afraid."
15. Various of street scenes
STORYLINE:
Residents in Lebanon’s capital Beirut expressed concern over their personal electronic devices on Friday, after a wave of attacks involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
Walkie-talkies exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in a second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and officials for the militant group said.
At least 20 people were killed and more than 450 wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said.
Following the attacks, Nabil Balaa, a telecommunications engineer, noted a significant shift in customer behaviour.
“I received numerous calls from customers asking how to hide their devices and what precautions to take,” he said.
Balaa added that while the devices available in the market are generally safe, the real issue lies with specific products that may have been interfered with.
Samah Almasri, owner of a mobile phone shop on Beirut’s Hamra high street, said the events had negatively impacted her sales.
AP video by Ali Sharafeddine
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