Lebanon and the armed group Hezbollah on Tuesday blamed Israel for the explosion of thousands of pager devices that left at least nine dead and nearly 3,000 wounded.
“This traitorous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression, whether it expects it or not,” the Lebanese militia said in a statement, pointing to Israel as “fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians.”
Hezbollah later said on its Telegram channel that eight of its members had been killed in the blasts. The ninth victim was believed to be a child.
The Lebanese government also blamed Israeli authorities, who have not commented on the incident.
For months, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging cross-border attacks.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington was not involved in or had prior knowledge of Tuesday’s incident, while White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. still believes there must be a diplomatic solution.
Lebanon’s state news agency reported that pagers exploded in Beirut’s southern suburbs and elsewhere. Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television channel also reported that a number of pagers had exploded.
According to BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, since the start of the Gaza conflict last year, Hezbollah had warned its members not to use mobile phones for fear they could be tampered with by Israeli intelligence agents, so they were using pagers – also known as pagers or pagers – to send messages to the militants. beepers in English- to communicate.
Pagers are wireless devices that receive alphanumeric messages or voice messages and, although they have been replaced by cell phones in recent decades, there are groups that continue to use them, such as health professionals.
Videos and photographs posted on social media from Lebanon on Tuesday showed injured people sitting or lying on the ground and others being taken to hospitals after the bombs went off. Unverified security camera footage showed explosions in shops.
A Hezbollah official told Reuters news agency it was the “biggest security breach” since hostilities with Israel escalated 11 months ago in parallel with the Gaza war.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, some 3,000 people have been injured as a result of the incident. Most of the injuries were to the face or hands.
In an initial statement, Hezbollah described the explosions as “mysterious.”
“Pagers belonging to employees of several Hezbollah units and institutions exploded,” the militia said in a statement.
The Iranian-backed group added that it was conducting a “comprehensive security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the “simultaneous” explosions.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon is among hundreds of people who have been injured. Iranian state television reported that his injuries are “superficial” and that he is “conscious and not in danger.”
Reports from Syria indicate that at least 14 people were injured in pager explosions in that country.
What is known so far
- At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 injured after a simultaneous explosion of pager devices used by Hezbollah members to communicate.
- Experts have told the BBC that the devices may have been loaded with up to 20 grams of military explosives.
- Lebanon’s health ministry put the number of injured at around 3,000 and said about 200 were in critical condition.
- Hezbollah blamed Israel for what happened and said that the country would pay a “just punishment” for the incident.
- Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in a low-intensity war on their border for almost a year.
- The Lebanese militia has launched rocket and drone attacks against Israel, while the Lebanese Air Force has carried out numerous strikes on Hezbollah targets and positions in Lebanon.
- Israel has not commented on the incident, but its government announced on Monday that one of its goals was to enable some 60,000 citizens living on the border with Lebanon to return home after having fled their homes due to the clashes in recent months.
- Hezbollah has portrayed its attacks on Israel as a form of solidarity with Palestinians over the war in Gaza and has said it will continue to provide them with this support.
Silence in Israel
Since the Palestinian armed group Hamas launched a surprise and deadly attack against Israel on October 7, thus starting the war in Gaza, the Lebanese border has become a sort of second front, where the Israeli army has been exchanging fire with Hezbollah.
The Lebanese militia has been sending rockets and drones into Israel. For its part, the Israeli air force has carried out frequent raids against the group’s positions and members. Thousands of cross-border attacks have taken place.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) offered no comment following Tuesday’s explosions in Lebanon.
But the developments came hours after Israel’s security cabinet set the safe return of 60,000 residents of the north of the country who had been displaced by Hezbollah attacks as the official aim of the war.
“The security cabinet has updated the war objectives to include the following: returning residents of the north safely to their homes,” the prime minister’s office said. “Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.”
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a meeting with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein that the only way to return residents of northern Israel was through “military action.”
“The possibility of a deal is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘link’ itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” his office said in a statement.
Israel has repeatedly warned that it could launch a military operation to drive Hezbollah back from the border.
In Tuesday’s statement, Hezbollah reiterated its “support and backing for the courageous Palestinian resistance.”
“This will be devastating for Hezbollah”
Analysis by Paul Adams, BBC Diplomacy Correspondent
It is hard to think of a more calculated attack to spread fear and confusion.
Hezbollah relies heavily on pagers for the group’s communications. Cell phones have long been abandoned as too vulnerable, as demonstrated by Israel’s assassination of Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash in 1996.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah members were victims of explosions in supermarkets, on the street, in cars, in their homes and even in hair salons.
Incidents were reported across Lebanon, from Beirut to the Bekaa Valley. Even in neighbouring Syria.
Each explosion may have been small, but some resulted in catastrophic injuries. At a time when Hezbollah and Israel are locked in a low-intensity war, these attacks will have devastating consequences for Hezbollah’s manpower, communications and morale.
Israel has yet to comment, but it was undoubtedly its work.
Is this the prelude to a bigger attack? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday that Israel would “do whatever it takes to ensure its security.”
There is still no sign that the numbers of men and armoured vehicles needed for a major military incursion into southern Lebanon will be assembled, but Tuesday’s attacks represent yet another escalation and it is hard to imagine Hezbollah not feeling compelled to respond in some way.
The devices may have been loaded with a small amount of explosives.
Analysis by Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent
The mass sabotage of such a large number of Lebanese pagers required both timely intelligence and technical capability.
Since the start of the Gaza conflict last year, Hezbollah had warned its members not to use cellphones for fear they could be tampered with by Israeli intelligence agents.
In 1996, Israel’s Shin Bet agency assassinated a Hamas bomb maker with an explosive on his telephone.
Instead, Hezbollah was using pagers to communicate, and a new batch was recently delivered.
Someone – and Hezbollah has no doubt that Israel is behind this – was able to secretly insert itself into the supply chain for those pagers.
A munitions expert who was a member of the British military and asked not to be named told the BBC that the devices would likely have been loaded with between 10 and 20 grams each of high-powered military explosives, hidden inside a dummy electronic component.
This, the expert said, would have been triggered by a signal, something called an alphanumeric text message.
Once activated, the next person using the device would have set off the explosive. So far, less than 1% of exploding pagers have been fatal, but with hundreds seriously injured, this is a major psychological blow to Hezbollah.
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