Hundreds of Hezbollah members were injured and an unknown number killed on Tuesday after pagers used by the Lebanese Shiite militia exploded across Lebanon simultaneously.
A Hezbollah source told the Guardian that they suspect Israel was behind the attack, but that the number of wounded was still unclear. They added they believe the attack was in response to the alleged assassination attempt by Hezbollah on a former top Israeli defence official, revealed on Tuesday by the Israeli Shin Bet security agency.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was one of the injured in the explosions, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.
Lebanon’s minister of health, Firas Abiad, said that while it was too early for an accurate tally, the number of wounded was in the “hundreds” and there were some fatalities from the explosions.
The attack was the third time Beirut has been targeted since the beginning of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on 8 October, after the latter launched rockets at Israel “in solidarity” with Hamas’s attack the day prior which began the current Gaza war.
Ambulances choked the streets of Beirut, the southern city of Tyre and villages across the Beqaa valley and south Lebanon, rushing the wounded to hospitals. Pictures of the wounded with scorched hips and mangled hands circulated across local media.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.
Lebanon’s health ministry asked all healthcare workers to head to their stations and put hospitals across the country on “maximum alert”. It further instructed citizens to distance themselves from wireless communication devices.
Hezbollah maintains its own communication network separate from the rest of Lebanon. Suspicions that Israel has managed to penetrate the group’s telecommunications have been held since October, as several Hezbollah commanders have been assassinated in targeted strikes.
Israel has yet to comment on the attack.
The incident in Lebanon comes as the Israeli prime inister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been holding a series of high-level security consultations with the heads of the security forces as tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon rise, according to Israeli media reports.
The Times of Israel and Ynet news described the meetings as “dramatic.”
The high-level security consultations were called a few hours after Israel, during an overnight meeting of the security cabinet on Tuesday, approved the decision to expand its war goals to include the return of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from towns along the northern frontier that have been badly damaged by rockets fired by Hezbollah – a move that suggests a major military operation against the Lebanese militant group is likely.
On Tuesday, Israel’s internal security agency said it had foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to kill a former senior Israeli security official, which was reportedly to be carried out in the coming days. The Shin Bet said in a statement that it had found an explosive “device fitted with a camera and a mechanism that would allow it to be activated by Hezbollah from Lebanon,“, although it did not provide evidence linking the device to the Lebanese group.
Hezbollah officials have said in the past that the group would stand down if a Gaza ceasefire was reached, while Israel insists it cannot allow militants to remain in the border area in Lebanon’s south.
The violence has killed hundreds – mostly fighters – in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side. The fighting has also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.
In recent days, according to media reports in the country, Netanyahu has been allegedly considering dismissing the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a move that would the biggest leadership shake-up in the country since the 7 October attacks, and could potentially pave the way to an all-out conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Gallant is believed to have consistently opposed a major military operation in Lebanon at this time, as the country is still fighting Hamas in Gaza, with the West Bank witnessing an escalation of violence and military activities, and while the country is fighting off Houthi missile attacks and dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions and threats.