Over three thousand people have reportedly sustained various degrees of injuries following a deadly explosion of pagers used by members of Hezbollah, a politically influential Shia Muslim organisation which controls the most powerful armed force in Lebanon.
According to reports, nine people have also lost their lives as a result of the deadly explosion, which rocked the city of Lebanon on Tuesday and parts of its neighbouring towns, including Syria.
Though it is unclear how the attack, which seemed sophisticated, occurred, the armed Hezbollah group, reportedly funded and equipped by Iran, has blamed Israel for the unprecedented attack and promised to retaliate with full force.
However, the Israeli military has neither taken responsibility nor refuted the claims as it has, so far, declined to comment on the development.
Hezbollah and Israeli long-standing dispute
Both Israel and the Hezbollah armed group led by Shia cleric Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah had been involved in a low-level war which broke out in 2006 as a result of a deadly cross-border raid that Hezbollah initiated.
The group designated a terrorist organisation by Western states, Israel, Gulf Arab countries and the Arab League, has also taken part in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel after it reportedly fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with the Palestinians just a day after Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel.
According to sources, the feud which escalated in October 2023, has led to the death of at least 589 people including fighters and civilians on Hezbollah’s side while not less than 25 civilians and 21 soldiers have been killed as a direct result of attacks on the Israeli side.
Almost 200,000 people have also been displaced on both sides of the border, the BBC reports.
How the explosion happened and expert opinions
Tuesday’s blast of the Hezbollah’s pagers reportedly began in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut at about 15:45 local time (13:45 BST).
The explosions were preceded by messages that that appeared to be coming from Hezbollah’s leadership. These messages triggered the devices to detonate, continuing with series of explosions for about an hour after the initial blast, multiple sources have claimed.
However, there is yet any certainty as regards how the explosions came about.
While analysts are trying to wrap their heads around the incident for probable cause, citing a hack which may have caused the pager batteries to overheat, causing the devices to explode, experts say that is unlikely as footage of the explosions were inconsistent with the batteries overheating.
Many have expressed shock at the scale of the attack while suggesting some sort of supply chain attack, which may involve the pagers being tampered with during their manufacture or while in transit, but this is also not certain just yet. It is hoped that more findings will be made in due course.
Moreso, journalists have gathered that amongst the nine victims killed in the explosion, were the sons of two Hezbollah MPs as well as the daughter of a Hezbollah member while Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani sustained minor injuries amongst thousands of other victims of the explosion who sustained varying degrees of injuries.
What are Pagers and Why does Hezbollah use them?
Pagers are wireless telecommunication devices that receive and display alphanumeric or voice messages. These wireless low-tech means of communication were adopted by Hezbollah in 1996 as a means of evading location-tracking after Israeli soldiers successfully assassinated Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash when his phone exploded in his hand.
As a result of the assassination, mobile phones are considered too vulnerable by the terrorist group and have thus, been avoided for the longest time since the incident occured.
According to reports, an unnamed Hezbollah operative told journalists that the exploded pagers, seen with labels of a model called the Rugged Pager AR-924 by Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, were a new brand that the group had not used before.
This was as a Lebanese security official also said around 5,000 pagers were brought into the country about five months ago.
