Hundreds of members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are believed to have been injured after the handheld pagers they used to communicate exploded.
Lebanon’s state news agency said there were explosions in the southern suburbs of Beirut and several other areas. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV also said several pagers had exploded, but did not specify who was injured.
Videos and images on social media appeared to show injured men sitting or lying on the floor and others being taken to hospital. Unconfirmed CCTV footage showed explosions in shops.
A Hezbollah official told Reuters news agency it was the “biggest security breach ever” since the conflict with Israel escalated 11 months ago in parallel with the war in Gaza.
There has been no comment from the Israeli military yet.
However, the event came hours after Israel’s security cabinet made the safe repatriation of 60,000 residents displaced in the north by Hezbollah attacks an official war objective.
“The security cabinet updated the objectives of the operation to include the following: The safe return of the people of the north to their homes,” the prime minister’s office said. “Israel will continue to act to achieve this objective.”
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the only way to bring back residents of northern Israel was through “military action”, during a meeting with US special envoy Amos Hochstein.
“The possibility of reaching an agreement is fading as Hezbollah continues to ‘align’ with Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” a statement from his office said.
Israel has repeatedly warned that it could launch a military operation to push Hezbollah away from its borders.
There has been near-daily cross-border gunfire since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began on October 7.
Hezbollah said it was acting in support of the Palestinian group. Both are backed by Iran and are considered terrorist organizations by Israel, Britain and other countries.
According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, at least 589 people have been killed since October – mostly Hezbollah fighters.
On the Israeli side, the Israeli government said 25 civilians and 21 members of the security forces were killed.
