Lebanon says at least 9 killed, 2,800 wounded by exploding pagers

Firass Abiad said more than 200 people are in critical condition after the communication devices exploded on Tuesday, and more than 150 hospitals are treating the victims, with injuries mostly reported to the face, hands and stomach.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah blamed Israel for the spree of pager blasts, stressing it will get “its fair punishment”.

Hezbollah urged people to be “cautious of rumours and false, misleading information being circulated by certain parties”, which it said “serve the psychological warfare of the Zionist enemy”.

“This comes especially in light of the enemy’s threatening rhetoric about changing the situation in the north,” it added.

“We affirm that the resistance, at all its levels and various units, is at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its steadfast people,” the group noted.

A Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded.

A source close to the group, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP news agency the blasts were an “Israeli breach” of its communication system. He didn’t elaborate.

A senior Hezbollah source also told Reuters the leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was not harmed in the pager blasts.

There has been no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Tuesday’s attacks although some reports suggest that the regime officials have been advised to remain tight-lipped about it.

Israel has been regularly exchanging fire with Hezbollah since last October, shortly after the regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza.