At least eight people were killed and over 2,700 injured in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday in a series of explosions caused by wireless devices carried by Hezbollah operatives and their associates. The targeted attack comes amid escalating tensions on Israel’s Lebanese border.
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosions, and neither Israel nor the United States have commented on the incident. However, Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attacks and vowed to deliver “fair punishment.”
The casualties included two Hezbollah operatives, a child, and the son of a Lebanese lawmaker. The Iranian ambassador to Beirut also sustained minor injuries. Emergency rooms in Beirut were overwhelmed with casualties following the blasts.
The recent clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have raised concerns about a potential full-fledged war. Israeli General Ori Gordin has proposed invading southern Lebanon to create a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah, reminiscent of Israel’s occupation of Lebanon in the past.
Tensions between the two sides have been escalating since Hezbollah started firing missiles at Israel following Hamas’ invasion in October. The situation intensified in July when a Hezbollah attack killed 12 schoolchildren in a Golan Heights village.
Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert, noted that the attack has damaged Hezbollah’s deterrence capability at a critical juncture when war seems imminent. The explosions, reportedly caused by pagers recently supplied to Hezbollah, could be unprecedented in scale if part of a planned mass attack.
In 1996, Israel used a similar method to assassinate a Hamas official by remotely exploding a single cellphone. The current incident raises concerns about the potential for further escalation and the impact on regional stability.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the explosions and their implications for the ongoing conflict.