Why were Hezbollah using pagers?
Many will ask why Hezbollah were using pagers in 2024.
The old-fashioned communication method was seemingly favoured by the group specifically for the fact it was not the latest technology.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry mobile phones because Israel could use them to track their movements.
On the other hand, pagers, in theory, pose no such problem.
Sky News’ Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall adds: “Hezbollah has been very cautious with its communications, aware that mobile phone conversations can be easily hacked and traced – pagers would have considered a lo-fi alternative and harder to infiltrate.”
Hezbollah blames Israel for pager explosions
Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack that has left eight dead and a large number seriously injured.
Pagers began exploding across parts of Lebanon from around 3.30pm local time.
Hezbollah initially refrained from accusing Israel of being behind the attack.
But now they have accused the country of being responsible and said they will get “its fair punishment”.
Video purports to show explosion at Lebanon market
Warning: This video contains graphic content
A video seems to capture the moment of an explosion at a market in Lebanon today.
In the footage people go about their business before an explosion can be heard, and people cry out.
It is purported that the blast is one of the pagers exploding and it seems to come from a man’s pocket.
People drop their bags and flee from the explosion – before returning and checking on the man who can be seen on the ground.
Analysis: Even though Israel hasn’t claimed attacks, fingers will point to The Mossad
By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent.
It really is like something out of a Hollywood spy movie.
The pagers of Hezbollah officials simultaneously exploding in a southern Beirut suburb, causing hundreds of injuries and immense embarrassment.
Israel hasn’t claimed responsibility, but all fingers will point to The Mossad, Israel’s external intelligence agency famed for inventive and audacious attacks on its enemies.
Technically we might never know how it was achieved, but it could have been done by sending signals to overload the individual circuits which would overheat the batteries effectively turning them into small hand grenades.
To do that, the attackers would have had to know at least the make and models of the individual pagers; to go further and co-ordinate the explosions on specific devices, it’s likely the serial numbers would also be known, all of which points to another major security breach for Hezbollah.
Alternatively, the pagers themselves, all apparently part of the same batch, could have been tampered with before delivery.
We can reasonably assume that those carrying pagers would have been fairly senior within the group.
That is supported by reports Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon was also injured when his pager exploded.
Eight dead so far Lebanon health minister says
Eight people have now died, Lebanon’s health minister has said, as the country continues to reel from the blasts this morning.
Hezbollah previously said in a statement that three people had died – two fighters and one girl.
It is possible this figure will increase as the day goes on and the fallout from the incident continues.
What is Hezbollah?
Hezbollah is one of the most heavily armed non-state groups in the world and forms part of the government in Lebanon, with dozens of MPs in parliament.
It is deemed a terrorist organisation by many, including some Western governments, and has played a significant role in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, exchanging fire with Israel since last October in parallel with the war.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry mobile phones because Israel could use them to track their movements.
At least 150 people wounded across Lebanon
According to AP, a Hezbollah official said that at least 150 people, including members of the group, were wounded in different parts of Lebanon when the devices exploded.
Other reports have cited varying figures of how many are injured.
A statement from the Lebanese prime minister’s office said it was informed of “security incidents occurring in a number of regions”.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also said to have been injured by the explosion of a pager according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.
A Reuters journalist saw ambulances rushing through the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut amid widespread panic.
They also reported that, at Mt Lebanon hospital, motorcycles raced to the emergency room carrying people with severely injured and bloodied hands.
Residents said explosions were taking place even 30 minutes after the initial blasts.
Those injured by the exploding pagers included fighters and medics from Hezbollah, the news agency said.
Lebanon’s health ministry called on hospitals to be on alert to take in emergency patients and for people who own pagers to get away from them.
It also asked health workers to avoid using wireless devices.
AP said their photographers had seen hospital emergency rooms overloaded with patients, many with limb injuries and some in serious conditions.
Hezbollah fighters dead in blasts, militant group says
Two Hezbollah fighters and a girl have been killed in the Lebanon blasts, the militant group has said.
Hundreds of pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, wounding members of the militant group Hezbollah, the Iranian ambassador and dozens of other people.
Hezbollah said it was carrying out an investigation to determine the causes of the blasts.
Pagers explode across Lebanon, injuring dozens of people including Hezbollah members
Hello and welcome to our live coverage after dozens of pagers exploded across Lebanon, injuring members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah who use the devices to communicate.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters news agency the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the group has faced in nearly a year of war with Israel.
We’re pausing our coverage
That brings an end to our live coverage today.
Gaza’s health ministry has said at least 19 people are confirmed to have been killed in an Israeli strike in a designated humanitarian zone known as al Mawasi, near Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
It said the toll may rise as more bodies are recovered.
The IDF said the strike targeted three senior Hamas fighters who it claimed were directly involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel.
Elsewhere, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said more than 90% of the issues regarding an Israel-Hamas ceasefire have been agreed.
Speaking at a press conference in central London alongside UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Mr Blinken said ceasefire talks are “down to a handful of issues” which he said are “hard but fully resolvable in our judgement”.
An agreed phased-deal would potentially see the release of hostages held since the 7 October attacks on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage.
The IDF has also expressed its “deepest regrest” after it said a Turkish-American activist who was killed in the occupied West Bank last week is likely to have been shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces who were aiming at someone else.
An inquiry into the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi concluded that the 26-year-old died at what it referred to as a riot in which “Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beita Junction”.
Ms Eygi was then caught in the cross fire as forces aimed at the “key instigator” of the demonstration.