BEIRUT – At least three individuals, including two Hezbollah fighters and a young girl, were killed, and over 1,000, including medics and Iran’s envoy to Beirut, were wounded on Tuesday when pagers used for communication exploded across Lebanon, according to security sources.
Lebanon’s health minister reported a toll of eight dead and 2,750 injured following the detonation of these devices. A senior Hezbollah official, speaking anonymously, described this as the group’s most significant security breach in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. While the Israeli military declined to comment, cross-border skirmishes between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have intensified in parallel with the Gaza conflict.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, suffered minor injuries when one of the pagers exploded. Reuters journalists on the scene witnessed ambulances rushing through Beirut’s southern suburbs amid widespread panic, with devices detonating across the country.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos at hospitals as those wounded, suffering injuries to their faces, eyes, and limbs, arrived in droves. The explosions, which lasted approximately an hour, began around 3:45 p.m. local time. Lebanese internal security forces confirmed that several wireless communication devices had detonated, particularly in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Regional broadcasters aired CCTV footage showing small handheld devices spontaneously exploding in public places. As medical workers were urgently summoned to aid the overwhelmed hospitals, they were advised to avoid using pagers themselves.
This incident adds a chilling dimension to the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which have already displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.
