Lebanese Media: Rooftop Solar Panels Explode in Beirut

LEBANON-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT
AFP via Getty Images

The Lebanon National News Agency (NNA) reported on Wednesday that rooftop solar arrays in Beirut exploded at roughly the same time walkie-talkies that Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, members used detonated in their hands.

The NNA offered no corroborating details about the reported photovoltaic (PV) panel explosions or how much damage they inflicted.

The wave of device detonations began on Tuesday when some 2,800 injuries were reported from Hezbollah pagers exploding.

On Wednesday, a second wave of detonations occurred, this time involving handheld radios. 

Both the pagers and radios were branded products of Asian companies, headquartered in Taiwan and Japan, respectively. Both companies denied having any connection to the explosions and said the units Hezbollah owned were third-party licensed or unlicensed knockoffs.

Hezbollah, which has been showering Israeli civilians with rocket attacks for months, blamed Israeli intelligence for the explosions. Israel has not claimed responsibility for either the pager or radio bombings as of Friday morning.

The Associated Press (AP), on Thursday, cited experts who “cast doubt” about the solar energy system explosions having any connection to the pager and radio blasts. These experts said the solar explosions, if they occurred, “may have been coincidental accidents.”

Lebanese social media was filled with claims that other “home appliances” in Beirut and southern Lebanon exploded, including computers, tablets, and electric vehicles, but none of these reports were corroborated.

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