The Lebanese community mourns Fatima Abdallah, a 10-year-old girl who died when a deadly wave of pager explosions hit Lebanon, during her funeral in the village of Saraain in the Bekaa Valley on September 18, 2024. The bloody events that followed the explosion of hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah operatives killed at least nine people and injured around 2,800 others, in blasts that the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.
Hezbollah vowed Wednesday to retaliate against Israel after several communications devices used by the militant group exploded, sparking fears of an all-out war.
There was no comment from Israel on the explosions that killed 12 people, including two children, and injured up to 2,800 others.
Hours before the blasts, Israel announced it was expanding the goals of its war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ October 7 attack, to include its fight against the Palestinian militant group’s ally Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said Israel was “fully responsible for this criminal aggression” and reiterated Wednesday its determination to avenge the attack, while vowing to continue its fight against Israel in support of Hamas in the Gaza war.
Cross-border exchanges with Israeli forces were “ongoing and distinct from the difficult confrontation that the criminal enemy faces for its massacre,” Hezbollah, which is backed by Israel’s regional foe Iran, said on Telegram.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver a televised speech Thursday.
The blasts killed two children and 10 other people, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said, with the number of injured estimated at between 2,750 and 2,800, with some being transferred to Syria or Iran for treatment.
The sudden influx of so many victims has overwhelmed hospitals in Hezbollah strongholds.
At a Beirut hospital, Dr. Joelle Khadra said, “the injuries were mainly to the eyes and hands, with amputations of fingers, shrapnel in the eyes – some people lost their sight.”
A doctor at another Beirut hospital, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said he had worked through the night and that the injuries were “out of the ordinary – I have never seen anything like it.”
Experts have said Israeli agents likely planted explosives on the pagers before they were delivered to Hezbollah.
“This wasn’t just lithium batteries forced into overcharge mode,” said Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.
A small plastic explosive charge was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or text, the analyst added, saying that the Israeli intelligence agency “Mossad had infiltrated the supply chain.”
Among the victims was the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, who died in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon when her father’s pager exploded, according to the family and a source close to the group.
Tehran’s ambassador to Beirut was wounded but his injuries were not serious, Iranian state media reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the attack, denouncing Western support for Israel’s “indiscriminate crimes, murders and assassinations.”
The attack was a major blow to the militant group, which already had concerns about the security of its communications after losing several key commanders in targeted airstrikes in recent months.
A source close to Hezbollah, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP that the pagers were “recently imported” and appeared to have been “sabotaged from the source.”
After the New York Times reported that the pagers had been ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, the company said they had been produced by its Hungarian partner BAC Consulting KFT.
BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono told US broadcaster NBC that “we don’t make the pagers. I’m just the middleman.”
As fears of a new regional conflagration resurfaced almost a year after the start of the Gaza war, Lufthansa and Air France announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut until Thursday.
The attack on Tuesday came at an “extremely volatile time,” according to UN human rights chief Volker Turk, who called the explosions “shocking” and their impact on civilians “unacceptable.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Cairo on Wednesday to try to salvage talks on a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In a meeting with the US envoy, Egyptian President Abdel Fatt…