Exploding pager attacks in Lebanon, and fears of a wider war
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 September 2024
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Summary
Thousands of people were injured across Lebanon this week in back-to-back explosions of electronic devices – pagers, mostly – used by the militant group Hezbollah.
Host Martine Powers speaks with Post correspondent Susannah George about what it’s like in Lebanon in the aftermath of these explosions and why they may portend an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.
Also, an update on the controversy over the 2024 Olympic medal stripped from Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled her coach did not initiate the decisive inquiry before the one-minute deadline.
An investigation by The Post, which analyzed dozens of videos to examine the disputed inquiry, shows CAS ruled against Chiles based on time markers that don’t precisely match the sport’s protocol for inquiries.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Emma Talkoff and Bishop Sand. It was mixed by Ted Muldoon and edited by Monica Campbell. Thanks to Jesse Mesner-Hage, Jenn Amur, Suzan Haidamous, Mohamad El Chamaa and Lior Soroka.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week reporter Susanna George went to a funeral in Lebanon. |
| 0:07.2 | It was a funeral for four people, all victims of an attack that happened on Tuesday when a wave of explosions hit the |
| 0:14.6 | country. Electronic devices, pagers mostly, started detonating. So we arrived |
| 0:21.6 | there, we started talking to people. |
| 0:24.0 | One of the people that we were talking to was describing what it sounded like on Tuesday in his part of Dachia in his neighborhood. |
| 0:32.0 | He said he heard the explosions all occur just |
| 0:36.6 | almost at exactly the same time but the sound was coming from different locations |
| 0:41.1 | and it was really just right after we were talking to him |
| 0:44.7 | that we heard an explosion just down the street from where we were standing. |
| 0:49.6 | A second attack hit the country. |
| 0:52.1 | New blasts were heard in different parts of Lebanon, this time from what appears to be rigged walkie talkies. |
| 0:58.0 | And that was when the Hezbollah security guys started running down toward the crowd of people and yelling at everyone to turn off your electronic devices. |
| 1:10.0 | People told us to turn our phones off, people were yelling, that the explosion came from a walkie-talkie and that if anyone had a walkie-talkie to take the battery out immediately. |
| 1:21.0 | Hezbollah is a militant group in Lebanon. |
| 1:24.0 | Their members are believed to have been the targets in these attacks. |
| 1:28.3 | Almost immediately after the attack, you know, people were running around there was confusion but people |
| 1:34.0 | started to chant. |
| 1:36.0 | And what they were chanting was Lebeak, |
| 1:45.0 | Ya Hussein, which means, you know, we're coming, |
| 1:48.2 | yeah Hussein. |
| 1:49.4 | And it's a Shia chant that means, you know, we're ready for mortardom. |
| 1:55.0 | And this is something that, you know, I've heard in other areas where there's violence |
... |
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