Middle East Expert on Lebanon: "Caught Off Guard"

New explosions shake Lebanon on Wednesday. Just the day before, thousands of people were injured and at least a dozen killed when large quantities of ammonium nitrate exploded. Judging by everything, they have been caught off guard once again, says Middle East expert Anders Persson to TT.

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Middle East Expert on Lebanon: "Caught Off Guard"
Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

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According to Lebanon's Health Department, Wednesday's explosions are linked to walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah.

They wouldn't have brought that type of equipment to funeral processions where explosions have occurred, if they were afraid that this kind of thing would happen, says Anders Persson, lecturer in political science at Linnaeus University in Växjö.

Tens of thousands of members

Hezbollah is an organization that is otherwise characterized by incredible professionalism, according to Persson.

A natural explanation is that all walkie-talkies were purchased at the same time as the metal detectors and that Israel had time to get their hands on them before.

But Hezbollah is also a mass movement with tens of thousands of members, both militant and civilian, and they need to communicate.

Greater humiliation

Today's events can be seen as an aftermath of Tuesday, and that Israel, which is accused of being behind Tuesday's attack, did not want to wait too long between the explosions.

It may be that Israel was afraid that Hezbollah would realize that it might not be so smart to use walkie-talkies, says Persson.

It's also possible that the explosions occurred at different times to make the shock and humiliation even greater.

What will happen now is unclear, and the escalation does not have to lead to a major war in the region, according to Persson.

I'm not sure that much will happen. I think first and foremost that Hezbollah will lick their wounds and think about what went wrong.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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