Hezbollah blames Israel for pager explosions that killed nine in Lebanon

Nine people, including a child, have been killed after handheld pagers used by members of the armed group Hezbollah to communicate exploded across Lebanon, the country’s Health Minister says.

Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon was among 2,800 other people who were wounded by the simultaneous blasts in Beirut and several other regions.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said the pagers belonged “to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions” and confirmed the deaths of eight fighters.

The group blamed Israel for what it called “this criminal aggression” and vowed that it would get “just retribution”. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Hours before the explosions, Israel’s security cabinet said stopping Hezbollah attacks on the North of the country to allow the safe return of displaced residents was an official war goal.

There have been almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on 7 October.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Iran-backed Palestinian group. Both are proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the United Kingdom, United States and other countries.

The UN’s spokesman said the latest developments in Lebanon were “extremely concerning, especially given that this is taking place within a context that is extremely volatile”.