Hezbollah pagers exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 2,700 in an apparent act of sabotage of a low-tech system the militant group uses to evade Israeli surveillance and assassination attempts.
Explosions occurred across Lebanon, including in Beirut, the southern city of Tyre, the western city of Hermel and parts of Syria. Images circulated on social media of the explosions and people being rushed to hospital with blood coming from their pockets, ears and faces.
Lebanon’s dominant political and military force, Iran-backed Hezbollah, condemned the “criminal attack” by Israel, saying “this traitorous and criminal enemy will receive the punishment it deserves.”
The Israeli military declined to comment, but there are concerns the incident could increase tensions between the two sides, which have been locked in an escalating border conflict for almost a year.
In a statement Tuesday night, UN special coordinator for Lebanon Janine Henis-Plusschaert called the attack a “deeply worrying escalation” and urged all parties to “refrain from further actions and belligerent rhetoric that could lead to a catastrophe on a scale that no one could bear.”
Following the explosion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with top security officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Galant, in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night.
Hezbollah said a “large number” of pagers belonging to people working for “different units and agencies” exploded at around 3.30pm local time.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the explosion killed nine people, including a child, and injured more than 2,700.
An Iranian official told the Financial Times that Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, was among the injured, adding that his “condition is generally good.” The Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, “strongly condemned the Zionist regime’s terrorist attack” in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
Following the attack, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health issued an urgent appeal for medical workers to report to work and stay away from electronic devices.
Relatives of the injured gathered in the street outside the American University Hospital in central Beirut. Elderly Ali said his nephew, a Hezbollah member, was injured in the leg when his pager exploded. “No one in my family has been able to see him,” he said.
Images from the scene of the explosion showed the remains of a pager bearing identifying markings as being made by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo Systems.
Gold Apollo denied Wednesday that it manufactured the pagers used in the attack, saying the models were made under license by a company it identified as BAC Corp.
“Per the agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademarks to sell our products in certain territories, but BAC remains fully responsible for the design and manufacturing of the products,” Gold Apollo said.
The company did not provide further details about BAC but had previously said it had given European distributors permission to use its branding.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said export statistics showed no records of Gold Apollo pagers being shipped directly to Lebanon in the past two years.
“The company exported 40,929 sets from January to August this year, mainly to the European and US markets,” the company said in a statement.
The United States said it had no advance knowledge of the attack and had no operational or intelligence role in the explosion. State Department spokesman Matt Miller declined to comment on who might be behind the blast, adding that it was “too early to say” what impact the blast might have on Gaza ceasefire talks.
Several foreign airlines, including British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France, announced on Tuesday night that they would suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv for the next few days.
Hezbollah switched to low-tech communications after Israel increased assassinations of senior Hezbollah commanders, and after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the two countries began a firefight across the border.
Israeli attacks have killed around 470 people in Lebanon in the past 11 months, mostly Hezbollah fighters, while the militant group’s attacks on Israel have left more than 40 dead.
This year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah urged his fighters to throw away their smartphones to avoid surveillance, prompting many to switch to older technology such as pagers, landlines and human couriers.
Tuesday’s explosion in Lebanon followed what Israel said was an assassination attempt by Hezbollah on a former senior official in Israel’s security services.
Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s security cabinet expanded the objectives of Israel’s nearly year-long military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to include securing the northern front against Hezbollah.
The bill adds a provision to “allow the safe return of northern residents to their homes” to address the more than 60,000 Israelis who have been displaced by clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Fighting has also forced some 100,000 Lebanese in the border areas to flee their homes.
Analysts say the security council’s decision signals a shift in the IDF’s priorities and risks escalating the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel into all-out war.
Additional reporting by Neri Zilber in Tel Aviv, Andrew England in London, Steph Chavez in Washington and Kathleen Hill in Taipei
