At least nine people were killed, and around 2,800 injured in Lebanon on Tuesday after a series of explosions involving pagers belonging to Hezbollah members, according to the country’s health minister. The incident is considered one of the most significant security breaches for Hezbollah since the Israel-Gaza conflict began nearly a year ago. A Hezbollah official cited lithium batteries inside the pagers as the likely cause of the detonations, though some members reported feeling their pagers “heating up” before abandoning them.
Hezbollah officials, speculating about the cause, have suggested the possibility of Israeli malware infiltrating their devices, according to the Wall Street Journal. Seven others were similarly killed in Syria near Damascus, indicating a coordinated attack on the group across multiple countries, reported Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Saberin News.
The explosions continued for about 30 minutes, with reports of detonations in southern Lebanon, far from Beirut. Iranian state-owned Mehr News Agency reported that Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was injured but is in stable condition.
Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack, though the Israeli military has declined to comment. This comes just hours after Israel’s Shin Bet claimed to have thwarted an assassination attempt on a former senior Israeli defense official. The IDF has warned its citizens of a potential escalation, as tensions have been high following the killing of senior Hezbollah official Fuad Shukr and Hamas political bureau chairman Ismail Haniya in Tehran in July.
Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since Hamas initiated its assault on the country in October of last year. The latest explosions highlight the ongoing volatility in the region as both sides brace for further conflict.
8 deaths and some 2,800 injuries resulted from Tuesday morning’s Beirut attack involving a mass explosion of pagers the group uses to communicate, according to Lebanon’s health minister. | @WelzAlex
— National Review (@NRO) September 17, 2024
