Thousands of people were reportedly injured across Lebanon on Sept. 17, after their handheld pagers began to explode.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, in a statement shared through the state-run National News Agency, reported around 2,800 people were wounded and another eight were killed, including a child, as a result of these pagers explosing.
As news of the outbreak of catastrophic pager malfunctions emerged, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he ordered Public Health Minister Firas Abiad to leave a cabinet session on Tuesday to help oversee the emergency response operations.
It remains unclear exactly who was injured and killed in the blast, but early indications suggest numerous members of Hezbollah were harmed.
Mahdi Ammar, the son of a Hezbollah-affiliated member of Lebanon’s parliament named Ali Ammar, was among those killed on Tuesday. Mikati expressed his condolences.
Hezbollah has clashed with Israel for years, and has been involved in a skirmish along the Israel-Lebanon border since October.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was also injured in one of the pager blasts on Tuesday. Iran has aligned with Hezbollah in its clashes with Israel over the years.
The Israeli military declined a FreeBase News request for comment regarding the Tuesday pager blasts.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also has avoided public comment regarding the pager blasts.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller denied any U.S. involvement or foreknowledge in the series of pager blasts.
Though no group has claimed responsibility for the pager explosions, Hezbollah’s media relations arm pointed the blame at Israel.
Mikati and his ministerial council also condemned the pager explosions as an act of criminal Israeli aggression and a severe violation of Lebanese sovereignty.
The pager explosions could escalate the ongoing conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The Israeli military has been preparing for a wider conflict with Hezbollah for months. If the pager blasts are indeed the work of Israeli actors, it could serve as an opening salvo to cripple Hezbollah’s strength ahead of a full-scale fight or convince Hezbollah leaders to avoid escalating the fight any further.
The pager blasts come less than two months after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a mysterious blast while he visited Iran. As with these pager explosions, no group claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death. Still, Hamas and Iran were quick to point the blame at Israel.
Iran has threatened retaliation against Israel for Haniyeh’s death.
This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.
