Lebanese army soldiers secure the area for an ambulance to enter the premises of the American University hospital in Beirut on September 17, 2024, after coordinated explosions of pagers across Lebanon the same day. At least 12 were killed as of press time. Photo: VCG

China oppose any act that infringes on Lebanon's sovereignty and security and express concerns over possible escalation of tensions in the region that this incident might trigger, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday. The remarks came after pager and radio bomb attacks in Lebanon resulted in numerous fatalities and left no suspects identified.

A series of large-scale explosions of civilian equipment highlighted the increasing threats posed by the weaponization of civilian electronic devices in modern warfare, said Chinese experts, who pinpointed the security loopholes of the global supply chain of civilian communication devices. 

Hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south in the country's deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel nearly one year ago, the Reuters reported.

The agency quoted Lebanon's health ministry as saying that 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday's pagers explosion rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured.

China is following closely the relevant incident. We oppose any act that infringes on Lebanon's sovereignty and security and express concerns over possible escalation of tensions in the region that this incident might trigger. China calls on relevant parties to earnestly safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East, Lin Jian, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary on Tuesday condemned the detonation of the pagers - hand-held devices that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages - as an "Israeli aggression." Hezbollah said Israel would receive "its fair punishment" for the blasts, AFP reported. 

However, there was no comment from Israel as yet. "The center of gravity is moving northward," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, during a visit to an air base on Wednesday, according to AFP.

Israel bombed southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had thwarted an "Iran-backed assassination plot." Israeli security services said on Thursday they had arrested an Israeli citizen last month on suspicion of involvement in an "Iran-backed assassination plot." The businessman with connections in Turkey had attended at least two meetings in Iran to discuss assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defense minister or the head of the Shin Bet spy agency. Overnight, Israeli jets and artillery hit multiple targets in southern Lebanon, Israel's military said.

Unhumanitarian approach 

The explosive attacks have stirred waves of condemnation across the world. United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said the Tuesday attack had come at an "extremely volatile time," calling the blasts "shocking" and their impact on civilians "unacceptable."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged governments "not to weaponize civilian objects."

The explosions not only heightened tensions in the already volatile Middle East, but they have also blurred the lines between military and civilian equipment, resulting in a significant number of casualties and injuries among even civilians, which is unhumanitarian, Liu Zhongmin, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, said on Thursday.

Liu said the use of communication devices to target armed personnel presents new challenges for international security. He said this approach could further exacerbate regional conflicts. Chinese experts pointed out that the explosions occurred at a sensitive time when the world is focusing on mediating with rising tension between Hezbollah and Israel.

Senior diplomats from the US, the UK, Germany, France and Italy were scheduled to meet on Thursday in Paris to discuss the spiraling tensions in the Middle East, sources told AFP, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting planned for September 20 (Friday).

Whoever is behind the explosions surely did not want peace in the Middle East, as new rounds of revenges will push up the risk of wider conflicts, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Emerging risks

Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah on Tuesday by hiding explosive material within a new batch of pagers made in the island of Taiwan and imported into Lebanon, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing US and other officials briefed on the operation.

The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, New York Times quoted some of the US officials. Most were the company's AR924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were also included in the shipment.

The Taiwan company said in a statement Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that the pagers were actually manufactured in Hungary.

Hungarian authorities denied this, however, saying the Budapest firm was a "trading intermediary" with no manufacturing sites in the country, according to CNN.

Experts told the Global Times that it is unusual to plan such large-scale explosions on personal electronic devices. The pagers and radio attacks further highlight the rising danger of weaponizing civilian communication devices and other electronic equipment in modern warfare, said Chinese experts who warned the security loopholes exposed by international supply chains. 

It is also possible that someone implanted explosives inside those devices after they were shipped, said Qian.

Shen Sheng contributed to the story