Thousands injured as Hezbollah pagers explode in Lebanon

At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 including a diplomat were injured when communications devices belonging to Hezbollah members exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday.

The blasts took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media. A Lebanese security official told the AP that pagers carried by Hezbollah members had detonated.

“The enemy (Israel) stands behind this security incident,” a Hezbollah official told the AP.

Iranian state media said Mojtaba Amani, Tehran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was among those injured. Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said in an interview with Al Jazeera that an eight-year-old girl was among the dead.

At least 170 people are in critical condition, Abiad added. Speaking at a news conference, he said many hospitals in the south of the country are over capacity due to the sheer volume of injured people arriving.

The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. and the Israel Defense Forces both declined to comment.

A Lebanese television network owned by Hezbollah, an Iran-backed movement, said “pager devices are exploding in the hands of their carriers” across the country, and that the Lebanese health ministry had placed hospitals on high alert.

Emergency rooms in Lebanon were overwhelmed with patients and requesting donations of blood, according to the AP.

The incident comes amid escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The two sides have repeatedly clashed since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.

“The U.S. was not involved,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “The U.S. was not aware of this incident of the hundreds of pagers that were going to explode in Lebanon ahead of time.”

Maggie Miller contributed reporting. This story has been updated.