Hundreds of explosions rocked multiple Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Tuesday, with the Iranian ambassador to the country reportedly among those injured.
Initial reports said the explosions came from pagers, an old-fashioned communication device favored by members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group due to risks of Israeli sabotage using smartphones.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that “hundreds of Hezbollah members were injured by the simultaneous explosion of their pagers” in the group’s strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs, claiming that the incident was a result of an “Israeli breach” of its communications.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon is reportedly among the injured.
At the time of publication, it’s not clear how the devices exploded simultaneously.
Lebanon’s health ministry in a statement asked “all hospitals in... areas near the locations of the injured, to be on high alert and raise their level of preparedness,” and “all health workers to urgently go to their workplaces” to assist.
The National News Agency said hospitals in the south, the Dahieh neighborhood and the Bekaa district have called on locals to donate blood of all types.
AFP called the incident “the first of its kind since Hezbollah began trading near-daily fire with Israel in support of ally Hamas after the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.”