Editorial | Hezbollah pager blasts a worrying escalation

Amid the steady stream of grim headlines out of the Middle East in recent months, it is telling that Tuesday’s deadly detonation of hundreds of pagers, reportedly belonging to members of the militant group Hezbollah, was met with global shock. The nearly simultaneous blasts in Lebanon and Syria have rightly sparked grave concern and condemnation of an apparent attack where personal, civilian communication devices were weaponised on a large scale.

The blasts killed at least 12 people including two children and the son of a prominent Hezbollah politician. Among the nearly 3,000 people injured was Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon.

One haunting image showed a device exploding in the pocket of a man shopping in a public market. It was not immediately clear if anyone not affiliated with Hezbollah carried the pagers, but many innocent civilians appear to be among the victims.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have been quick to blame Israel. Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, have been steadily rising since last year’s October 7 attack by Hamas militants that brought war to Gaza. US officials who have been pushing for a ceasefire in the conflict said it was too early to say how the blasts would affect talks.

There are, however, growing fears it may trigger a regional war. Although Israel did not immediately take responsibility for the explosions, the country has carried out sophisticated remote operations in the past.