Lebanon bans pagers on planes – RT World News

The restrictions came after thousands of handheld devices exploded simultaneously across the country.

Lebanon has banned pagers and walkie-talkies on flights to and from Beirut, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The restrictions were put in place after at least 37 people were killed and some 3,000 wounded when handheld devices used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. The militants blamed Israel for the incident.

“Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday issued a new directive banning passengers from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on board any aircraft,” The ban applies to all types of luggage and cargo, the NNA said on Thursday, citing a statement by Faid El Hassan, head of the Lebanese civil aviation authority, it added.


Hezbollah has previously opted to use pagers as a low-tech and supposedly secure method of communication for fear that Israel would hack its smartphones and use them for surveillance.

Although West Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, several media outlets reported that Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, was responsible for placing explosives in the devices.

The New York Times cited sources as saying that the Mossad created a fake company in Hungary to produce the compromised pagers under a licensing agreement with a Taiwanese company.

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Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the explosions amounted to a “declaration of war” and vowed to retaliate. Meanwhile, Israeli officials reiterated that they were determined to prevent Hezbollah from firing rockets and mortar shells into northern Israel.

The UN has condemned the explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies as “unacceptable,” and the organisation's human rights officer, Volker Turk, called for an independent investigation into the incident.

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