Hundreds of Hezbollah members were injured on Tuesday afternoon in a suburb of Beirut and other locations in southern Lebanon, following the explosion of communication devices (jammers) they were holding.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the detonation of the jammers was the "biggest security breach" the organization has suffered in its nearly year-long war with Israel.
A Reuters journalist saw ambulances rushing to the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut, amid widespread panic. Residents reported that explosions were still occurring even 30 minutes after the initial detonations.
Groups of people gathered at building entrances to check if anyone they knew had been injured, the Reuters journalist reported.
The security source added that explosive devices were also detonating in southern Lebanon. So far, there has been no comment from the Israeli military, which has been exchanging fire with Hezbollah since October, alongside the war in Gaza.
According to AFP, citing sources close to Hezbollah, dozens of members of the Iran-backed Lebanese organization were injured by the simultaneous explosion of their jammers in various strongholds of the group.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that it was an "Israeli hacking."
"Dozens of Hezbollah members were injured in the southern suburbs of Beirut," a stronghold of the Islamist organization, and "in southern Lebanon from the explosion of their jammers," stated another source close to the party.
An AFP correspondent in the eastern Bekaa Valley, also a Hezbollah stronghold, reported "dozens of injuries" due to the explosion of their jammers in that area.
Many eyewitnesses saw ambulances transporting the injured to the southern suburbs of Beirut, where hospitals issued urgent appeals for blood donations.
The national news agency ANI referred to an "unprecedented security incident that occurred in the southern suburbs of Beirut as well as in several areas of Lebanon," attributing it to the Israeli "enemy."
It was added that "the jammer system was hacked using advanced technology."
Hezbollah had instructed its members to stop using mobile phones to avoid Israeli hacking.
The organization implemented a jammer system through which its members are required to report to their units.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured today by an explosion from his jammer, according to the Iranian news agency Mehr, as hundreds of members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah were seriously injured today in similar incidents.
