Lebanon: No more pagers, walkie-talkies on flights from Beirut

Lebanon’s Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday prohibited people from taking pagers and walkie-talkies on all flights from Beirut’s airport, after two sophisticated waves of attacks rocked the country this week and raised tensions in the Middle East.

The ban applies to both checked luggage and carry-on items. It comes into force immediately and will be enforced until further notice, authorities said.

At least 12 people were killed and 3,000 injured in the dramatic first attack Tuesday, when pagers blew up across Lebanon. Another set of explosions took place Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring 450, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah — the Lebanese militant group and political party which was directly targeted in the attacks — and the Lebanese government blamed Israel.

While Israel has not commented directly on the blasts, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said its war in the region is entering a “new phase,” hours after announcing Israeli troops would be moved to the north of the country.

Israel has been battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October last year, killing at least 40,000 people in the besieged coastal enclave, after the Palestinian militant group carried out a deadly surprise attack which killed more than a 1,000 people on Oct. 7.

After the first wave of explosions, a Taiwanese company said earlier Wednesday that the exploding pagers were manufactured in Hungary, which Budapest responded to by saying that the pagers were “never” in the country.

The electronics bloodshed was condemned by the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell, while United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned it could trigger a “dramatic escalation.”