BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group blamed Israel for the simultaneous explosion of pager devices used by group members that killed eight people and injured more than 2,750 others on Tuesday, warning Israel will be punished.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,” Hezbollah said in a statement, adding that Israel “will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression”.
Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon the group blamed on Israel.
Among the dead were the son of a Hezbollah lawmaker and the 10-year-old daughter of a member of the Lebanese group.
The girl was killed when her father’s pager exploded as she was standing beside him, her family and a source close to Hezbollah said. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the blasts and warned it would be punished.
Health Minister Firass Abiad said 2,750 people had been injured by exploding pagers — “more than 200 of them critically”.
Iranian state television reported that Tehran’s ambassador in Beirut Mojtaba Amani suffered injuries in one of the explosions.
A Hezbollah official said the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the Lebanese group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.
The blasts, which struck locations in Beirut’s southern suburbs, south Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley, are the first of their kind since Hezbollah engaged its near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad confirmed that the explosions injured hundreds across the country. Reports indicated that Hezbollah members were among the most affected, with ambulances rushing to hospitals in Beirut, Tyre, Sidon, and the Bekaa Valley. The Lebanese Red Cross was placed on high alert to manage the influx of casualties.
Hezbollah had previously advised its members to avoid using mobile phones and rely on their own telecommunications systems to prevent such breaches. The explosions were seen as a significant setback for the Lebanese group’s communication strategies.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the blasts, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the bombardment campaign in Gaza to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon.
“The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war this evening, so that they include the following section: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ongoing conflict has led to significant displacement, with tens of thousands of people fleeing their homes on both sides of the border. The exchanges have resulted in hundreds of deaths, mostly fighters, with civilians also caught in the crossfire.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief, Naim Qassem, said that while the group had no intention of escalating to full-scale war, significant losses were expected if the conflict continued. Meanwhile, Hamas, which is allied with Hezbollah, has prepared for a prolonged resistance war with Israel in Gaza, according to its leader Yahya Sinwar.
Since October 7, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 41,252 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the territory’s health ministry reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Egypt this week to revive ceasefire talks for the Gaza conflict. Despite ongoing negotiations, a resolution has remained elusive.
While months of mediated negotiations have failed to pin down a ceasefire, the United States said it was still pushing all sides to finalise an agreement.
To bridge the remaining gaps, Washington was working “expeditiously” on a new proposal, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Miller said Blinken would discuss during a visit to Egypt this week “ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of all hostages, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and helps establish broader regional security”.
US officials have expressed increasing frustration with Israel as Netanyahu has publicly rejected US assessments that the deal is nearly complete and has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.
Mounting pressure has failed to sway him to agree to a hostage release deal that has wide support from the Israeli public.
