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Live Updates: Israel flights suspended as Hezbollah vows response to pager attack

Pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon and in Syria on Tuesday, marking a major escalation after nearly 12 months of Hezbollah-Israel tensions.

Medics collect blood donations in Beirut's southern suburb on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.
Medics collect blood donations in Beirut's southern suburb on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Israel is suspected of being behind a large-scale attack on pagers used by Hezbollah members that exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, which the Lebanese government said injured at least 4,000 people and killed 11. 

Hezbollah said in a statement on Tuesday that its group's pagers exploded around 3:30 p.m. local time. An anonymous Hezbollah official told Reuters that the incident marks the “biggest security breach” for the group since its nearly 12-month-long conflict with Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, blaming Israel for the attack. 

A series of pager explosions also occurred in Syria, injuring 14 in Damascus and the countryside after devices exploded, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.