Beirut: Lebanon’s Health Minister confirmed a series of explosions across the country, resulting in the deaths of at least eight people and injuring 2,750 others. The blasts were caused by exploding handheld pagers.
Health Minister Firass Abiad further informed that 200 people are in critical condition after the communication devices exploded on Tuesday. He also said that the victims are receiving treatment in over 150 hospitals.
In a statement earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah said that “pagers belonging to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions exploded,” killing two of its fighters and a girl. The group further said that it was investigating to determine the causes of the explosions.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the explosion of handheld pagers as the organisation’s “biggest security breach” in nearly a year, according to Al Jazeera.
No official statement has been released by the Israeli military regarding the explosions in Lebanon.
Earlier, Arab media had reported that some 1,000 Hezbollah operatives so far have been injured by exploding pagers and radios.
Reports suggest that Hezbollah figures in Syria were also injured in the apparently simultaneous blasts. Also injured was Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani.
Social media is rife with videos that caught the explosions, their aftermath, and chaos in Lebanese hospitals. Unverified Arab media reports have attributed the blasts to an Israeli cyber attack.
Notably, Israel’s Security Cabinet on Monday night updated its official war goals to include the secure return of 60,000 evacuated northern residents to their homes.
Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Israel’s three other official war goals are the eradication of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the return of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
(With inputs from ANI)
