Hezbollah blames Israel after pager explosions k!ll nine and inj_re thousands in Lebanon
Nine people, including a child, have been k*illed after handheld pagers used by members of the armed group Hezbollah to communicate exploded across Lebanon, the country’s health minister says.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was among 2,800 other people who were w0unded by the simultaneous blasts in Beirut and several other regions.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said the pagers belonged “to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions” and confirmed the de@ths of eight fighters.
The group blamed Israel for what it called “this criminal aggression” and vowed that it would get “just retribution”. The Israeli military declined to comment.
Hours before the explosions, Israel’s security cabinet said stopping Hezbollah att@cks on the north of the country to allow the safe return of displaced residents was an official war goal.
There have been almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on 7 October.
Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Iran-backed Palestinian group.
In its latest statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it would carry on its “operations in support of Gaza”, adding that this was a “continuous path separate from the hard price that awaits the enemy in response to its massacre on Tuesday”.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.
The UN’s spokesman said the latest developments in Lebanon were “extremely concerning, especially given that this is taking place within a context that is extremely volatile”.
Many Lebanese were in a state of shock and disbelief on Tuesday evening, unable to get their heads around an event that was unprecedented in scale and nature.
Hezbollah said an unspecified number pagers – which the group relies on heavily for communications due to the risk of mobile phones being hacked or tracked – exploded at around 15:30 local time (12:30 GMT) in the capital Beirut and many other areas. BBC
