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: