Lebanon’s health minister has confirmed that eight people have been killed and more than 2,750 people were wounded in Beirut, Lebanon, today after thousands of wireless communication devices were remotely detonated in a coordinated strike against Hezbollah.
The attack lasted about an hour after the first pagers were detonated around 3:45 p.m. local time. Reuters reported Hezbollah has confirmed a girl was killed during the attack, and noted that Iran’s envoy to Beirut, as well as medics, were wounded in the attack.
The Lebanese Red Cross announced that 130 ambulances and more than 500 emergency medical technicians have responded across the country after the attack. The head of the Nabatieh public hospital, Hassan Wazni, spoke with a Reuters reporter shortly after the attack, stating around 40 people were being treated at the hospital for injuries to the face, eyes, and limbs.
Celebrating the strike against Hezbollah, users on X have shared videos of the wounded targets and posted videos recorded at a hospital showing a child and several adults with severe injuries to their faces, limbs, and hands.
Edward Snowden responded to the strike, criticizing the “reckless” attack’s collateral damage causing civilians casualties, stating on X:
What Israel has just done is, via *any* method, reckless. They blew up countless numbers of people who were driving (meaning cars out of control), shopping (your children are in the stroller standing behind him in the checkout line), et cetera. Indistinguishable from terrorism.
After the attack, several users on X posted an email from the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) to staff regarding their paging system’s recent replacement, and alleged AUBMC was aware of the attack. AUBMC denied involvement, calling the accusations “baseless allegations” in a statement posted on X:
At a crucial time when AUBMC physicians, nurses, and staff have been fully mobilized to deal with the aftermath of today’s injuries, several malicious social media outlets have started spreading rumors and conspiracy theories about the types of communications systems AUB has in place, attempting to link AUB to this tragic event. The university categorically denies these baseless allegations. Following are the facts. Our paging system infrastructure was upgraded in April 2024. The Go-Live for switching to the new system took place on August 29, 2024. The scope of this upgrade was to enhance emergency and code communication, as several devices and systems had become obsolete. The American University of Beirut Medical Center has received over 160 seriously injured individuals over the last three hours, with more to come. Our full focus must be on saving lives and caring for the wounded to the best of our ability. Rather than waste time spreading baseless rumors, we urge all to rally to support AUBMC and the heroic but overwhelmed medical system in Lebanon.
