At least nine people are dead – including members of the militant group Hezbollah – and thousands more are injured after pagers exploded in Lebanon.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel after exploding pagers left several people dead and thousands injured, with the former warning “just punishment” would follow.
Hundreds of pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people including an eight-year-old girl.
UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, deplored the attack and warned that it marks an “an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context”.
The UK’s Foreign Office has urged “calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time”. The Israeli military has declined to comment on the attacks.
The mysterious explosions came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, who have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza.
The pagers that blew up were apparently acquired by Hezbollah after the group’s leader ordered members in February to stop using mobile phones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence.
A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the pagers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use.
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that it authorised its brand on the AR-924 pagers used by Hezbollah, but the devices were produced and sold by a company called BAC.
At about 3:30pm local time on Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles in the afternoon traffic, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding.
Members of the militant group Hezbollah, the Iranian ambassador and thousands of other people were among the wounded.
It was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.
Lebanese health minister Firas Abiad told Qatar’s Al Jazeera network at least nine people were killed, including an eight-year-old girl, and some 2,750 were wounded — 200 of them critically — by the explosions. Most had injuries in the face, hand, or around the abdomen.
It appeared eight of the dead belonged to Hezbollah. The group issued a statement confirming at least two members were killed in the pager bombings.
One of them was the son of a Hezbollah member in Parliament, according to the Hezbollah official who spoke anonymously. The group later issued announcements that six other members were killed Tuesday, though it did not specify how.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will “for sure get its just punishment”.
Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said that the country’s ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being treated at a hospital.
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A UK FCDO spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time.”
The Foreign Office also updated its travel advice to include information on the explosion of communication devices, saying British nationals in Lebanon should exercise caution and that hospitals may be very busy.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Britons to leave Lebanon several weeks ago, saying that they risk “becoming trapped in a warzone” if they fail to do so.
Hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel have been killed in clashes across the border since October 7, which have also displaced tens of thousands on both sides.
Speaking to the AP after his son, Mahdi, was killed on Tuesday, prominent Hezbollah politician Ali Ammar said: “This is a new Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The resistance will retaliate in a suitable way at the suitable time.”
Israel said on Tuesday that stopping Hezbollah’s attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official goal.
Lufthansa suspended all flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran in response to the explosions.
The airline said all flights to and from those airports would be cancelled and routes would bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including September 19.
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