Civil Protection emergency response groups carry an injured man whose moveable pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2024. | Picture credit score: AP
Lots of of individuals have been injured throughout Lebanon when their pagers exploded on Tuesday (17 September 2024), Well being Minister Firass Abiad stated, and a supply near Hezbollah stated its members have been focused.
The supply near Hezbollah stated a lot of members of the Iran-backed motion had been wounded within the almost simultaneous incidents, however no deaths had been reported.
It was not instantly clear whether or not there have been any deaths.
A senior army intelligence official and an official from a Lebanese group with data of the scenario, each of whom spoke on situation of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the scenario, stated pagers carried by Hezbollah members have been detonated. The second official stated it was believed to be an Israeli strike.
He Related Press contacted the Israeli army, which declined to remark.
Images and movies from Beirut’s southern suburbs circulating on social media and in native media present folks mendacity on the pavement with wounds on their fingers or close to their trouser pockets.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has beforehand warned members of the group to not carry cellphones, saying they might be utilized by Israel to trace their actions and perform focused assaults.
Lebanon’s well being ministry has requested all hospitals to be on standby for emergency sufferers and for folks with pagers to steer clear of them. It has additionally requested well being employees to keep away from utilizing wi-fi units.
AP Photographers at space hospitals stated emergency rooms have been overwhelmed with sufferers, many with limb accidents, some in essential situation.
The state-run Nationwide Information Company stated hospitals in southern Lebanon, the japanese Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs, all areas the place Hezbollah has a robust presence, had requested folks to donate blood of every type.
The information company reported that in Beirut’s southern suburbs and different areas, “the moveable paging system was detonated utilizing superior know-how and dozens of individuals have been reported injured.”
The Related Press quoted a Hezbollah official as saying that “a number of hundred” folks in Lebanon, together with its members, have been wounded.
A Hezbollah official, quoted by Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity, stated the pager detonation was the “largest safety breach” the group had suffered in almost a yr of struggle with Israel.
“The enemy (Israel) is behind this safety incident,” the official stated, with out giving additional particulars. He added that the brand new pagers carried by Hezbollah members had lithium batteries that apparently exploded.
Lithium batteries, when heated an excessive amount of, can smoke, soften, and even catch hearth. Rechargeable lithium batteries are utilized in shopper merchandise starting from cellphones and laptops to electrical automobiles. Fires attributable to lithium batteries can attain temperatures of as much as 590°C.
The incident comes at a time of rising tensions between Lebanon and Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing virtually each day for greater than 11 months amid the continuing struggle between Israel and Hezbollah’s ally Hamas in Gaza.
The preventing has killed a whole bunch of individuals in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of 1000’s on each side of the border.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was injured
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was flippantly injured on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) by an digital pager explosion, Iran’s semi-official Fars information company reported.
“Amani has a superficial harm and is at present below statement in a hospital,” a supply was quoted as saying by Fars.
Printed – September 17, 2024 07:47 pm IST
