Wave of exploding Hezbollah pagers kills nine, wounds thousands in Lebanon

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on Sept. 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding around 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the wave of explosions, which came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along the country's border with Lebanon.

The blasts "killed nine people, including a girl", Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said.

He added that about "2,800 people were injured, about 200 of them critically".

"This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override," said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.

"A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page."

Israel's spy agency "Mossad infiltrated the supply chain", he said.

The influx of so many casualties all at once overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds.

At one hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs, an AFP correspondent saw people being treated in a car park on thin mattresses, with medical gloves on the ground and ambulance stretchers covered in blood.

"In all my life I've never seen someone walking on the street... and then explode," said Musa, a resident of the southern suburbs, requesting to be identified only by his first name.

The...