Thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon
on Tuesday in what appears to be a coordinated and 'mysterious attack' that killed 8 people and injured over 2,700 others, including many
Hezbollah
fighters and medical personnel. Among the dead was a child, according to Lebanese health officials.
The incident occurred just hours after Israeli security agency Shin Bet disclosed that Hezbollah had attempted to assassinate a former senior Israeli defense official in Tel Aviv, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
The 'attack' also comes a day after Israeli leaders cautioned they were contemplating an escalation of their military operations against Hezbollah, the New York Times reported.
Pointing the finger squarely at
Israel
for the attack, Iran-backed Hezbollah said: "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.
It added that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression".
Lebanon's information minister Ziad Makary was the first Lebanese official to openly accuse Israel of involvement in the incident.
Makary said his nation denounces the "
Israeli aggression
" following the nationwide explosion of pagers.
The Israeli military, which has been engaged in an exchange of fire with Hezbollah since October, coinciding with the Gaza war, did not provide an immediate response to the incident.
Hezbollah has urged the public to be cautious of "rumors and false and misleading information" that could contribute to the "psychological warfare" being waged by the "Zionist enemy", considering Israel's threats to initiate a large-scale offensive in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah said pagers belonging to its members had exploded, but that the cause was being investigated.
The devices that detonated in
Lebanon
were the most recent models smuggled into the country by Hezbollah over the past few months, Reuters reported.
The new pagers had
lithium batteries
that apparently exploded.
Hezbollah operatives utilised the communication device known as a 'beeper,' which was commonly used before the widespread adoption of mobile phones. The technology enables users to receive messages even in areas with limited connectivity.
According to Jerusalem post reports, the pagers were deliberately called for a brief duration just prior to the explosion. This tactic was apparently designed to increase the likelihood that the recipient would answer the call and suffer the greatest possible harm when the blast occurred.
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