Hezbollah has vowed to punish Israel after multiple pager explosions took place across Lebanon, resulting in significant casualties. The explosions, which Hezbollah blamed on Israel, occurred in areas where Hezbollah holds strong influence, including southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the Bekaa Valley. These blasts killed nine people, including Hezbollah fighters, and injured almost 3,000 others.
Hezbollah uses pagers for communication, and the explosions were a major security breach for the group. Closed-circuit TV footage showed one of these detonations happening in a grocery store. According to reports, Israel allegedly planted explosives in the pagers, which could be remotely triggered. However, Israel has not commented on the accusations.
This incident has heightened tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, which have been clashing ever since the Gaza war began in October. Hezbollah has threatened retaliation against Israel, and while it aims to avoid full-scale conflict, it is clear that the ongoing war in Gaza is influencing these cross-border clashes.
Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, which called the blasts an act of “Israeli aggression,” have condemned the explosions. Meanwhile, international voices, including the U.N. and the U.S., are calling for calm and urging diplomatic solutions to avoid further escalation.
