Hezbollah vows to punish Israel after pager blasts kill 9, injure thousands across Lebanon

Militant group Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others who included fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the late-afternoon detonation of the pagers – handheld devices that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages – as an “Israeli aggression”. Hezbollah said Israel would receive “its fair punishment” for the blasts.

The Israeli military, which has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war in October, declined to respond to questions about the detonations.

The death toll rose from eight to nine on Tuesday night while the number of injured remained at 2,750, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Hezbollah confirmed in an earlier statement that the deaths included at least two of its fighters and a young girl.