Israel estimates explosion casualties among Hezbollah are much higher than reported

The Lebanese government is scrambling to restore order after two consecutive days in which mysterious explosions rocked the nation, killing at least 37 people and wounding around 3,000, most of them members of the Hezbollah terror group.

Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad stated that the beeper explosions on Tuesday killed 12 people and wounded 2,323. On Wednesday, exploding handheld radios claimed another 23 lives and injured an additional 608.

Abiad added that two children were killed and 300 people were “in critical condition.”

Hospitals, overwhelmed by the crisis, urged citizens to donate blood, while field hospitals were established in several towns.

Lebanese outlet MTV reported that 500 people sustained eye injuries, with 300 losing their sight completely.

According to Ynet News, Israeli officials estimate the true casualty numbers to be much higher than reported, due to Hezbollah’s attempts to hide the true scope of the blow it suffered.

Large parts of the elite Hezbollah Radwan Force command staff were either killed or wounded, according to the report.

The most prominent victim so far is the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, who was evacuated for treatment in Iran along with 90 other wounded.

The Iranian Red Crescent also sent doctors and nurses to assist, while Iraq and Jordan transferred aid and medical supplies.

Lebanon’s Civil Aviation Authority requested all airlines operating at Beirut Airport to ban the transport of any beeper or hand-held communication device on their planes.

The Lebanese Armed Forces announced operations to collect suspicious communication devices and detonate them safely while asking citizens to report any device they suspect might be rigged with explosives.

Lebanese media outlets published articles attempting to clarify which electronic devices were now considered a security risk, and whether cell phones were still safe to use.

Nationwide panic escalated as reports mounted of the gruesome injuries caused by the small explosions, with some doctors comparing the scenes to the aftermath of the massive Beirut port explosion in the summer of 2020.

“The injuries were mainly to the eyes and hands, with finger amputations, shrapnel in the eyes – some people lost their sight,” a doctor at Beirut’s Hotel-Dieu Hospital told the Naharnews outlet.

A doctor from another hospital said the injuries were “out of this world – never seen anything like it.”

“It’s beyond what can be described. We have a lot of injuries with amputated fingers,” he said, adding the most horrific injuries occurred when the pagers detonated in people’s faces.

The doctor said that 75% of patients with eye wounds “lost one eye completely, and the other eye is either somewhat salvageable or barely salvageable,” while another “15 to 20% ... lost both eyes in a way that’s irreparable.”

There were “a lot of burns and foreign bodies – metallic pieces of pagers being retrieved from patients’ eyes, brains, faces, sinuses, from their insides, from their bones.”