BEIRUT, Lebanon — “A large number” Lebanon’s Hezbollah Movement Government and Hezbollah officials said on Tuesday that simultaneous pager explosions carried by members in their bases in Beirut and southern Lebanon injured some members and killed at least eight. Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah blamed Israel and the powerful militant group vowed to take revenge on what it called Israel’s “sinful aggression.”
“We hold Israel’s enemies fully responsible for this criminal act of aggression, which also targeted civilians and left many martyrs and injured,” Hezbollah said in a statement, vowing that “the traitorous and criminal enemies will receive the due punishment for this sinful act of aggression, whether expected or not.”
The unusual and apparently meticulously planned attack came amid growing concerns in Washington that Israel could launch an all-out offensive against Hezbollah as it continues its war in the Gaza Strip with Hamas, Hezbollah’s ally and Iranian proxy.
Hezbollah had earlier said that a young girl and at least two of its members were among those killed in the blast. Lebanon’s Health Minister Firas Abyad said at a press conference that the blast had killed at least eight people and injured around 2,800, multiple media outlets reported.
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Lebanese state television said Iran’s ambassador to the country, Mojtaba Amani, was injured in the blast but was “conscious and out of danger.”
Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the explosion, and ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party were instructed not to comment.
CBS News’ Confirmed team was working to verify a number of videos that began spreading rapidly on social media, some of which showed people going about their daily lives being hit by explosions on or near them, and some that showed bloody tracks from what appeared to be smaller explosions.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health issued a statement on Tuesday calling on all medical workers to rush to their workplaces to help with emergency treatment for the large number of injured people who were taken to hospitals after the explosion.
Hezbollah has become increasingly reliant on low-tech communications to evade Israeli electronic surveillance as the group’s top brass is killed. Commander Fouad ShukrHe was killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut in July.
Reuters reported in June that Hezbollah commanders had banned the use of mobile phones in some areas, ordering their members to rely instead on pagers and face-to-face communication.
Violence between Israel and Hezbollah has been increasing for weeks
The explosion in Lebanon came after several weeks of rising tensions. Israeli forces fighting HezbollahHezbollah is based across Israel’s northern border in Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expel Hezbollah fighters from southern Lebanon to end regular volleys of rocket fire aimed at his country.
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In recent weeks, the United States and other allies have warned that such attacks could quickly escalate into a broader regional conflict, possibly Further attacks by Iranian proxy groups Regarding the US military in the region.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel since Israel launched its offensive. The war against the Hamas alliance in GazaThe war, which began with an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, has left more than 42,000 people dead in Gaza and raised tensions across the volatile Middle East.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since early October. Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 450 people in Lebanon over the past 11 months, most of them Hezbollah members, while on the Israeli side, Lebanese artillery fire killed 21 soldiers and 13 civilians by late July.
This breaking news story will be updated.
Tucker Rials contributed to this report.
The war between Israel and Hamas
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