Hezbollah security breach: Pagers explode across Lebanon and Syria

In the largest security breach since October 2023, handheld Hezbollah pagers exploded across Lebanon and Syria, wounding more than 2,750 people on Sept. 17. Explosions lasted for about an hour after detonation.

First Look

More than 2,750 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Sept. 17 when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon and Syria, security sources told Reuters.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.

Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted in October 2023, the worst such escalation in years.

The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters inquiries about the detonations.

Iran’s Mehr News Agency said the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured by one of the blasts. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

The pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months, three security sources said.

A Reuters journalist saw ambulances rushing through the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, amid widespread panic. A security source said that devices were also exploding in the south of Lebanon.

The head of the Nabatieh public hospital in the south of the country, Hassan Wazni, told Reuters that around 40 wounded people were being treated at his facility.

The wave of explosions lasted around an hour after the initial detonations, which took place at about 3:45 p.m. local time. It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated.

Lebanese internal security forces said a number of wireless communication devices were detonated across Lebanon, especially in Beirut’s southern suburbs, leading to injuries.

Groups of people huddled at the entrance of buildings to check on people they knew who may have been wounded, the Reuters journalist said.

Regional broadcasters carrying CCTV footage showed what appeared to be a small handheld device placed next to a grocery store cashier where an individual was paying spontaneously exploding.

Lebanon’s crisis operations center, which is run by the health ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the massive numbers of wounded coming in for urgent care. It said healthcare workers should not use pagers.

The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 50 ambulances and 300 emergency medical staff were dispatched to help in the evacuation of victims.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said a few Hezbollah fighters were also wounded in Syria when the pagers they were carrying exploded, as reported by The Associated Press.

Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas gunmen on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire constantly ever since while avoiding a major escalation.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from towns and villages on both sides of the border by the hostilities.

This story was reported by Reuters. Reporting by Laila Bassam, Maya Gebeily, and Emilie Madi. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.