At least nine people were killed and about 2,750 wounded on Tuesday when Hezbollah radars and medics exploded in Lebanon, security sources and the health minister told Reuters.

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makari said the government condemned the radar explosion as “Israeli aggression.”

Hezbollah also blamed Israel for the blasts and said it would face “just punishment.” The Jewish State Army declined to comment when asked by Reuters about the blasts.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the radar explosion was the “biggest security breach” the group had faced in nearly a year of war with Israel.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been locked in a cross-border war since the conflict in Gaza erupted in October, leading to the worst escalation in years.

Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that at least three people were killed, including two of its fighters. It added that the third person killed was a girl. The group said its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was not hurt in the blasts.

The wave of explosions continued for about an hour after the first blasts, which occurred at about 3:45 p.m. local time (1:45 p.m. GMT). It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry described the blasts as a “dangerous and deliberate Israeli escalation” that it said was “accompanied by threats to spread the war to Lebanon on a larger scale.”

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces said several wireless communication devices were detonated across Lebanon, particularly in the southern suburbs of Hezbollah stronghold Beirut.

The devices that exploded were the latest model introduced by Hezbollah, three security sources said.

HUNDREDS OF SERIOUSLY WOUNDED

Among the wounded were many Hezbollah fighters who are the children of senior members of the armed group, two security sources told Reuters.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, suffered a “superficial wound” and is currently under observation in hospital, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel’s National Security Agency said it had foiled a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former senior defense ministry official in the coming days.

Hezbollah has said it wants to avoid an all-out conflict with Israel, but that only ending the war in Gaza will end the cross-border clashes. Efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza remain stalled after months of talks brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

A Reuters journalist saw ambulances driving through the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut amid widespread panic. A security source said pagers were also exploding in southern Lebanon.

At Mount Lebanon Hospital, a Reuters journalist saw motorbikes rolling into the emergency room where people were screaming in pain with blood on their hands.

Hassan Wazni, director of the state-run Nabatieh hospital in the south of the country, told Reuters that about 40 people were being treated there. The injuries included wounds to the face, eyes and limbs.

Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel immediately after the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have continued to attack each other, although they have avoided further escalation.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee towns on both sides of the border because of the fighting. (Reuters)