At least 11 people were killed and thousands were injured when pagers held by Hezbollah members across Lebanon exploded on Tuesday afternoon, in what appeared to be a widescale, coordinated attack attributed to Israel.
The unprecedented wave of explosions, which also reportedly killed and injured several people in Syria, sparked chaos in a region already on high alert for the outbreak of full-scale hostilities.
It came hours after Israel designated the halting of Hezbollah’s attacks one of its main war goals and announced that it had foiled an assassination attempt by the Iranian proxy group against a former senior official.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said in an initial evening press conference that nine people were killed and 2,750 more were injured in the blasts, including some 200 people in critical condition.
In a later update, Abiad was cited by Arabic-language media as saying that the death toll had risen to 11, and another 4,000 were wounded, including 400 in critical condition.
Ambulances carrying Hezbollah members and others with bloodied limbs and faces streamed to hospitals for hours after the blasts, overwhelming health services.
Hezbollah said three people were killed, including two members of the group, and blamed Israel for the spree of pager blasts, promising to retaliate.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,” the group said in a statement, adding that Israel “will certainly receive its fair punishment for this sinful aggression.”
Also among the dead were the son of a Hezbollah lawmaker, reportedly Lebanese MP Ali Ammar, and the 10-year-old daughter of a member of the terror group, according to Lebanese sources.
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.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was lightly injured by an exploding pager, Iran’s state-run media said.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was not hurt in the explosions, the group said.
In Syria, seven people were killed in the coordinated attack, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Saberin News.
The fatalities were reportedly in the Damascus neighborhood of Seyedah Zeinab, a Shiite stronghold.
Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary said his country condemned the “Israeli aggression,” becoming the first Lebanese official to directly implicate Israel.
Israel did not respond to allegations that it had been behind the attack; the Israel Defense Forces said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi met with top brass for talks “with an emphasis on readiness for attack and defense in all arenas.”
Hebrew media reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and other security chiefs were meeting at the Defense Ministry headquarters at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv following the apparent attack.
The wave of explosions started at about 3:45 p.m. local time and lasted around an hour. It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated, but media outlets reported that owners received a message before the blasts.
A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the handheld pagers, a new brand used by the group, first heated up, then exploded, killing at least two of its members and wounding others.
Regional broadcasters carried CCTV footage that showed what appeared to be a small handheld device placed next to a grocery store cashier where an individual was making a payment spontaneously exploding.
In other footage, an explosion appeared to knock out someone standing at a fruit stand in a market area.
The Hezbollah communication devices that exploded throughout Lebanon and in Syria were the latest model, brought in by the terror group in recent months, three security sources told Reuters.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, a Hezbollah official said the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices.” He added that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying had lithium batteries, which can smoke, melt, and even catch fire when overheated.
2 comments:
Brilliantly conceived and now the Arabs got their dose of an October 7 surprise on Setember 17. Psalm 83 in full motion.
Reminds me of Entebbe. Israel caught their adversaries with their pants down completely by surprise or in this case their pants down and smoldering.
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