At least 12 people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members – including fighters and medics – detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. Here’s what we know so far about the pager blasts.
WHEN AND WHERE DID THE BLASTS TAKE PLACE?
The detonations started around 3:30 pm (1230 GMT) in the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley – strongholds of the anti-Israel militant group Hezbollah. They lasted around an hour, with Reuters witnesses and residents of Dahiyeh saying they could still hear explosions at 4:30 pm (1730 GMT).
HOW BIG WERE THE EXPLOSIONS?
The blasts were relatively contained, according to footage reviewed by Reuters. In two separate clips from closed-circuit video of supermarkets, the blasts appeared only to wound the person wearing the pager or closest to it. Video from hospitals and shared on social media appeared to show individuals with injuries to their faces, missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pager was likely worn.
WHAT TYPE OF PAGER EXPLODED?
Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.
The Lebanese source said the group had ordered pagers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year. The source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AR-924.
WHAT CAUSED PAGERS TO EXPLODE?
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a “security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the blasts and said Israel would receive “its fair punishment.”
Diplomatic and security sources speculated that the explosions could have been caused by the devices’ batteries detonating, possibly through overheating. But others said that Israel might have infiltrated the supply chain for Hezbollah’s pagers. The New York Times reported that Israel hid explosive material within a new batch of the pagers before they were imported to Lebanon, citing American and other officials briefed on the operation.
WHAT HAVE THE AUTHORITIES SAID?
Lebanon’s foreign ministry called the explosions an “Israeli cyberattack,” but did not provide details on how it had reached that conclusion. The US State Department said Washington was gathering information and was not involved. The Pentagon said there was no change in US force posture in the Middle East in the wake of the incident.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
Analysts see the threat of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, which have exchanged cross-border fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October.
But experts are more skeptical, for now, about the potential for triggering an imminent all-out Israel-Hezbollah war, which the US has sought to prevent and which it believes neither side wants.
