Electronic pagers belonging to members of the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah exploded across the Middle East on Tuesday, sparking fears of further escalation in the region.
No country or group has yet taken responsibility for the synchronised act of violence, but Hezbollah is pointing the finger of blame towards Israel.
As governments around the world brace for further conflict, here’s what you need to know.
What happened?
At around 3.30pm local time on Tuesday, pagers used by the Hezbollah fighters to communicate started to explode across Lebanon and Syria.
Pagers are wireless telecommunications devices which can receive voice or alphanumeric messages.
Hezbollah have not used phones since 1996, when a Hamas bomb-maker was killed after his phone exploded in his hand.
More than 50 ambulances and 400 emergency medical staff were dispatched to help on the day, as chaos ensued.
Nine deaths have been reported so far while 2,750 people were wounded, including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani.
Lebanon’s public health minister Firass Abiad told the BBC that most of the damage was to the “face and especially to the eyes” as well as hands.
He added that most of those going to emergency rooms were in civilian clothing.
The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was reportedly not harmed.
Who are Hezbollah?
Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon.
It is backed by the Iranian regime and makes up part of Tehran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance”.
The group fought in Syria’s civil war, and are vehemently opposed to Israel and the West.
Who was responsible for the pager explosions?
No one has come forward to take responsibility for the violence so far, including Israel.
Prime minister Najib Mikati said the explosions were a “serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards”.
However, Hezbollah has already started to blame Israel.
A statement from the group, published by AFP, said: “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.”
Iran’s UN representative, Amir Saeid Iravani, said: “The Israeli regime must be held accountable for such aggression and heinous crime.”
Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have been rising ever since the Gaza war began last October, with the two sides repeatedly exchanging fire.
In July, Israel took responsibility for killing senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr.
Then in August, Hezbollah launched a series of attacks against Israel, leading to a 48-hour state of emergency in the country. Israel also retaliated with a series of “self defence” projectiles.
And on Tuesday, hours before the pager explosions, Israel said it had foiled a Hezbollah attempt to assassinate a former senior defence official in coming days.
Anonymous US and Israeli officials told Axios news outlet that the explosions were the first step in an “all-out” offensive against the militant group.
However, the pagers were reportedly detonated early over fears Hezbollah were aware of the attack.
What does this have to do with the Israel-Gaza war?
Hezbollah is a proxy of the Iranian regime, like the Gaza-based Palestinian militants, Hamas.
Tensions between Hezbollah and Israel have increased ever since Israel’s war against Hamas reached new heights last year.
Hamas killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, and took around 250 others hostage.
Israel declared all-out war, invaded the Palestinian territory, imposed blockades and have been attempting to wipe out Hamas altogether ever since.
According to the local health authorities in Gaza, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since last October.
When news of the pager-explosions broke, Hamas said in a statement: “We appreciate the struggle and sacrifices of our brothers in Hezbollah, and their insistence on continuing to support and back our Palestinian people in Gaza, and we affirm our full solidarity with the Lebanese people and our brothers in Hezbollah.”
The attack also came hours after Israel’s security cabinet made the safe return of residents to the north of its country – which borders with Lebanon – an official war goal.
How did the pagers explode?
One Hezbollah official told Reuters that the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” seen over the last year – but how did it happen?
It’s not yet clear. Some believe a hack could have caused the batteries to overheat, but that does not chime with the footage showing the devices smoking.
Others believe it could be due to a hardware change during transit or manufacture – meaning it was highly sophisticated.
Hezbollah have used pagers for decades in an effort to avoid location-tracking from Israel.
But, a Hezbollah operative told AP that these pagers were a new brand which had not been used before.
What happens next?
There are fears that this will be a major escalation.
The UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, released a statement saying it was an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context”.
She said “all concerned actors” should “reform from any further action or bellicose rhetoric, which could trigger a wider conflagration that nobody can afford”.
But Lebanon’s foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib threatened Israel in a statement to the New York Times.
He said: “If Israel thinks by this that they’re going to return their displaced people from the north of Israel, they are mistaken. This escalates this war.”
He said his government was ready to submit a complaint at the UN Security council, adding: “Hezbollah are definitely going to retaliate in a big way. How? Where? I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu told a visiting US official that Israel would “do what is necessary to ensure its security”.
Meanwhile the US, which says it had no involvement in the explosions, has said there needs to be a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.