On the afternoon of 17 September 2024, thousands of handheld pager devices — believed to be in possession of Hizballah members — exploded simultaneously across Beirut, particularly in the city’s southern suburbs, and other areas of Lebanon, including the eastern Bekaa Valley. At least 12 people were killed and more than 2,750 others remain hospitalized for injuries inflicted in the explosions. Additionally, Mojtaba Amani, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, reportedly lost one eye and suffered severe wounds to his head in one such explosion. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health advised individuals carrying pagers to discard such devices immediately.
Analyst Comment: It appears that the pagers, which had all been procured over the last few months, were sabotaged at some point in the production process by planting explosives into the devices. These explosives-laden devices allegedly held by members of Hizballah were remotely detonated, but civilians were also caught in the explosions that occurred while the devices were out in spaces open to the public. Both the Lebanese government and Hizballah have blamed the Israeli government for carrying out the attack.
