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WASHINGTON — US military officials have denied involvement in the pager explosions in Lebanon and Syria that have killed at least nine and wounded thousands, and have noted that they are reviewing the situation.
“I don’t have any details to provide on the reports of the the pager blast,” the Pentagon press secretary, Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, said in a Tuesday briefing. “I can tell you, you know, to my knowledge, there’s no US involvement in this at all.”
“It’s something that we’re monitoring,” Ryder added.
Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, government and Hezbollah officials said.
At least 200 of some 2,750 injured were in critical condition, according to Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad. Others mostly suffered injuries to their face and hands, and some required amputations.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed people lying on the pavement with injuries to their face, abdomen or extremities.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Hezbollah official told AP that hundreds, including members of the group, were wounded in different parts of Lebanon when the pagers they were carrying detonated.
The official said the explosions were a result of an Israeli “security operation” that allegedly targeted the devices. The Israeli military has declined to comment on the accusations.
The Hezbollah official said that the pagers — a seldom-used and outdated communication device meant to notify its user via a brief message — contained lithium batteries, which are often found in consumer products from mobile phones to electric cars. They can catch fire when overheated.
The state-run National News Agency said hospitals in southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs — areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence — had called on people to donate blood of all types.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry mobile phones, saying that they could be used by Israel to track their movements and to carry out targeted strikes.
The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.
On Tuesday, Israel declared that it has made an objective of halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the north to allow Israeli residents in the area to return to their homes.
Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’s terrorist attack on 7 October, which sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ 7 October attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million. — Euronews
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