What We Know about the Deadly Pager Blasts in Lebanon 

A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 in this screen grab from a video obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)
A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 in this screen grab from a video obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)
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What We Know about the Deadly Pager Blasts in Lebanon 

A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 in this screen grab from a video obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)
A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024 in this screen grab from a video obtained from social media. (Social media/via Reuters)

At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members - including fighters and medics - detonated simultaneously across Lebanon.

Here's what we know so far about the pager blasts.

WHEN AND WHERE DID THE BLASTS TAKE PLACE?

The detonations started around 3:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) in the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley - strongholds of the anti-Israel armed group Hezbollah.

They lasted around an hour, with Reuters witnesses and residents of Dahiyeh saying they could still hear explosions at 4:30 p.m. (1730 GMT).

According to security sources and footage reviewed by Reuters, some of the detonations took place after the pagers rang, causing the fighters to put their hands on them or bring them up to their faces to check the screens.

HOW BIG WERE THE EXPLOSIONS?

The blasts were relatively contained, according to footage reviewed by Reuters. In two separate clips from closed-circuit video of supermarkets, the blasts appeared only to wound the person wearing the pager or closest to it.

Video from hospitals and shared on social media appeared to show individuals with injuries to their faces, missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pager was likely worn.

The blasts did not appear to cause major damage to buildings or start any fires.

WHAT TYPE OF PAGER EXPLODED?

Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.

The Lebanese source said the group had ordered pagers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which several sources say were brought into the country earlier this year. The source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924.

Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based pager manufacturer.

Hezbollah did not reply to questions from Reuters on the make of the pagers. Gold Apollo's founder said the company did not make the pagers used in the explosions in Lebanon. They were manufactured by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taiwanese firm's brand.

Hezbollah fighters began using pagers in the belief they would be able to evade Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group's operations told Reuters this year.

Three security sources told Reuters that the pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months.

WHAT CAUSED THE PAGERS TO EXPLODE?

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a "security and scientific investigation" into the causes of the blasts and said Israel would receive "its fair punishment."

Diplomatic and security sources speculated that the explosions could have been caused by the devices' batteries detonating, possibly through overheating.

But others said that Israel might have infiltrated the supply chain for Hezbollah's pagers. The New York Times reported that Israel hid explosive material within a new batch of the pagers before they were imported to Lebanon, citing American and other officials briefed on the operation.

Several experts who spoke with Reuters said they doubted the battery alone would have been enough to cause the blasts.

Paul Christensen, an expert in lithium ion battery safety at Newcastle University, said the damage seemed inconsistent with past cases of such batteries failing.

"What we're talking about is a relatively small battery bursting into flames. We're not talking of a fatal explosion here...my intuition is telling me that it's highly unlikely," he said.

Another reason to doubt the explosions were caused by overheating batteries is that typically only a fully charged battery can catch fire or explode, said Ofodike Ezekoye, a University of Texas at Austin mechanical engineering professor.

"Below 50% (charge)...it will generate gases and vapor, but no fires or explosions. It is highly unlikely that everyone whose pager failed had a fully charged battery," he said.

Israeli intelligence forces have previously placed explosives in personal phones to target enemies, according to the 2018 book "Rise and Kill First". Hackers have also demonstrated the ability to inject malicious code into personal devices, causing them to overheat and explode in some instances.

WHAT HAVE THE AUTHORITIES SAID?

Lebanon's foreign ministry called the explosions an "Israeli cyberattack," but did not provide details on how it had reached that conclusion.

Lebanon's information minister said the attack was an assault on Lebanon's sovereignty.

Israel's military declined to respond to Reuters questions on the pager blasts.

The US State Department said Washington was gathering information and was not involved. The Pentagon said there was no change in US force posture in the Middle East in the wake of the incident.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CONFLICT?

Analysts see the threat of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, which have exchanged cross-border fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last October.

But experts are more skeptical, for now, about the potential for triggering an imminent all-out Israel-Hezbollah war, which the US has sought to prevent and which it believes neither side wants.

Matthew Levitt, former deputy director of the US Treasury's intelligence office and author of a book on Hezbollah, said the pager explosions could disrupt its operations for some time.

Jonathan Panikoff, the US government's former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said Hezbollah might downplay its "biggest counterintelligence failure in decades" but rising tensions could eventually erupt into full-scale war if diplomacy continues to fall short.



Israeli Attack on Beirut Deepens Hezbollah’s Crisis

 A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)
A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)
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Israeli Attack on Beirut Deepens Hezbollah’s Crisis

 A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)
A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)

Israel’s attack on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs has put the Iran-backed party in a difficult position.

Stopping attacks on the suburb, known as Dahiyeh, was among the main reasons that led Hezbollah to agree to the ceasefire with Israel in November.

Israel attacked Dahiyeh on Friday for the first time since the ceasefire after rockets were fired against Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack and no one has claimed responsibility for it. The party believes that attacks are being carried out against Israel to give it an excuse to again wage war on Lebanon.

The strike on the suburb forced Hezbollah to cancel its “Quds Day” commemoration that was set for Friday afternoon. Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem was expected to deliver a speech at the event.

This was the first time since 1985 that the party is forced to cancel the commemoration that it usually holds on the final Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

The strike on Dahiyeh will only undermine the relative stability that was restored to the area since November 26 when the ceasefire was announced.

Since then, the area, which was heavily bombarded by Israel during its war on Hezbollah, has gradually been revived, with most houses being renovated and schools and hospitals reopening.

The strike has reawakened concerns that Dahiyeh will again come under Israeli attack should more rockets be fired at the country.

Friday’s attack has also limited Hezbollah’s political options.

Lebanese sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the party “cannot retaliate unilaterally to the strike and will leave it up to the state to handle the situation.”

“Regardless of whether the party can or cannot respond to Israel, any military retaliation on its part will play into Israel’s hands that wants to reignite the war,” they added, saying the Lebanese authorities want to avoid conflict at all costs.

However, Hezbollah’s failure to retaliate “means Israel has free rein to carry out targeted strikes wherever and however it wants undeterred. Dahiyeh will therefore become another area on its list of permanent targets.”

“This will pressure the Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah alike because the strikes will lead to new waves of displacement and stop operations at vital institutions, such as schools and businesses,” they explained.

Ultimately, “Hezbollah has very limited options at the moment. Israel’s ambitions, meanwhile, are growing to strike political agreements with Lebanon that go beyond the security deal that is already in place,” the sources said.