Pagers explode in Lebanon injuring 100s, Iranian ambassador

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was injured on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported, after wireless communications devices exploded in southern Lebanon injuring many hundreds of people. Hezbollah members and fighters were among the injured and wounded, AP and Reuters have reported.

Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amini was "superficially" injured in the blasts, Iranian state media IRNA reported, adding that his wife also suffered minor injuries, and she was undergoing observation at hospital.

Wireless communication devices exploded across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Iranian and Lebanese state media outlets have reported. In the reports, Iran said Israel has used “advanced technology” in the attacks.

Additionally, eight people were killed in the explosions including a child, Lebanon’s LBCI reported, citing Health Minister Firas Abiad, adding that 2,800 people were injured - 200 critically. 

Lebanese state media reported wireless communication devices like pagers exploded in southern areas of the country in an  “unprecedented hostile security incident.”

Videos circulating on social media show ambulances and emergency vehicles driving to hospitals, including in Beirut and its suburbs, receiving severely injured people. 

Iran's semi-official Mehr News accused Israel of using “advanced technology” to trigger the explosions. 

Reuters, citing security sources, reported that the injured are over 1,000 from Hezbollah fighters and medics.

Hezbollah officials speaking on the condition of anonymity to AP, said at least two of its members were killed and others were injured.

Three people, suspected to be Hezbollah members, were killed in Lebanon’s southeastern Blida village on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike, according to AFP.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon and parts of Syria have intensified over the past year. 

Hospitals in and near Damascus also received several Lebanese Hezbollah members wounded in the pager explosions, the UK-based conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported, calling it an “Israeli cyberattack.”

Tensions have been rising since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched a large-scale incursion into southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a massive offensive on Gaza, killing over 40,000 people as of mid-August, according to AP citing the Palestinian health ministry.
 

Updated at 7:32 p.m.