Walkie-talkie explosions injure hundreds in Lebanon a day after pager attacks. Here’s how the news unfolded

By  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated 4:55 PM EDT, September 18, 2024 SHARE

Today’s live coverage has paused, but there’s still plenty to catch up on. Read what you missed below and find more on the Lebanon explosions at apnews.com.

Walkie-talkies, solar equipment and other devices exploded suddenly Wednesday at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene.

Lebanon’s health ministry says that 20 people were killed and over 450 were wounded in Wednesday’s explosions.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are blaming Israel for Tuesday’s attack.

What to know today:

• Israel draws up new plans to strike Hezbollah: After months of fighting in Gaza,Israel’s defense minister said the country’s army plans to turn its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah. Israel’s army chief says they’re ready to strike.
• Second day of attacks: Wednesday’s new blasts come as Lebanon is still thrown into confusion and anger after Tuesday’s pager bombings that killed at least 12, including two children.
• Impact on cease-fire talks: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed frustration at the surprise escalations that are threatening to derail efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza.
• Walkie-talkie maker says exploded devices appear to have been knockoffs
• By MATT O’BRIEN
• A sales executive at the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese walkie-talkie maker Icom told The Associated Press that the exploded radio devices in Lebanon appear to be a knockoff product and not made by Icom.
• “I can guarantee you they were not our products,” said Ray Novak, a senior sales manager for Icom America’s amateur radio division, in an interview Wednesday at a trade show in Providence, Rhode Island.
• Novak said Icom introduced the V82 two-way radio model more than two decades ago and it has long since been discontinued. It was favored by amateur radio operators and for use in social or emergency communications, including by people tracking tornadoes or hurricanes, he said.
• Novak said he spent all day fielding calls and trying to dispel misinformation about Icom’s discontinued device. He showed a reporter on his cellphone how easy it is to find counterfeit versions of the product sold online.