Pager bombs kill 9, hurt 2,800 in Lebanon: Hezbollah blames Israel; Iran ambassador among injured

Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding around 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas’ 7 October attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along the country’s border with Lebanon.

The blasts “killed nine people, including a girl,” Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said. About “2,800 people were injured, about 200 of them critically,” he added.

“This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override,” said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.

“A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page,” he said.

Israel’s spy agency “Mossad infiltrated the supply chain,” he said.

The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds.

At one hospital in Beirut’s southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent saw people being treated in a car park on thin mattresses, with medical gloves on the ground and ambulance stretchers covered in blood.

“In all my life I’ve never seen someone walking on the street... and then explode,” Musa said, a resident of the southern suburbs, requesting to be identified only by his first name.

The 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member was killed in east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley when his pager exploded, the family and a source close to the group said.

A son of Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar was also among the dead, a source close to the group told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Tehran’s ambassador in Beirut was wounded but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported.

Remote detonation

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the blasts.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,” the group said in a statement, adding that Israel “will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression.”

On Wednesday, the group vowed it “will continue” its fight in support of Gaza.

No involvement

The United States, Israel’s main backer, was “not involved” and “not aware of this incident in advance,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

The afternoon blasts hit Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon and dealt a heavy blow to the militant group, which already had concerns about the security of its communications after losing several key commanders to targeted air strikes in recent months.

A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, told AFP that “the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices” which appear to have been “sabotaged at source.”

After The New York Times reported the pagers had been ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, the company denied any link to the products.

Israel expands war aims

Early Tuesday, Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hezbollah along its border with Lebanon.

To date, Israel’s objectives have been to crush Hamas and bring home the hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the 7 October attacks.

“The political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war” to include “the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Since October, the unabating exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.

Not formally declared a war by Israel, the exchanges of fire have killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens including soldiers on the Israeli side.

‘Only way left’

On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that failing a political solution, “military action” would be “the only way left to ensure the return” of the displaced residents to the border area.

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said at the weekend that his group had “no intention of going to war,” but that “there will be large losses on both sides” in the event of all-out conflict.

Major airlines Lufthansa and Air France on Tuesday announced suspensions of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday as tensions in the region soared.

Blinken flies in

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived back in the region at dawn on Wednesday to try to revive the stalled ceasefire talks on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

After months of mediated negotiations failed to pin down a ceasefire, Washington said it was still working with mediators Qatar and Egypt to finalize an agreement.

US officials have expressed increasing frustration with Israel as Netanyahu has publicly rejected US assessments that a deal is nearly complete and has insisted on an Israeli military presence on the Egypt-Gaza border.

The 7 October attack on southern Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.