The 2024 Lebanon pager explosions occurred in September 2024 when Israel's Mossad intelligence agency detonated explosives hidden within thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, killing at least 26 people and injuring around 3,000.
In February 2024, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah ordered his group's members to switch from using cell phones to pagers after Israel infiltrated their cell phone network. Israel intercepted Hezbollah's new batch of 5,000 Gold Apollo AR924 pagers and implanted explosions into the devices before allowing their delivery to Hezbollah.
On 17 September 2024, the Security Cabinet of Israel announced the expansion of its goals for the Israel-Hamas War, namely the safe return of displaced residents to the north. That same day, after concern spread within Mossad that Hezbollah neared discovery of the booby-trapped communications devices, Mossad sent out codes to the pagers that would trigger the explosion of their lithium batteries. At 3:30 PM local time, several pagers across Syria and Lebanon exploded, primarily injuring Hezbollah members, but also harming bystanders. Explosions occurred in Beirut's Dahieh suburb, South Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and Damascus, and the blasts persisted for 30 minutes. The explosions created a healthcare emergency in Lebanon as emergency crews from across the country were dispatched to Beirut.
The next day, a second wave of explosions occurred when handheld radios were destroyed by similar methods. Some of the explosions occurred at a Beirut funeral held for three slain Hezbollah members and a child, and even smartphones, solar panels, intercoms, and car batteries exploded. A lithium battery store in Majdal Selm was among the 60 homes and shops to catch on fire.
The attacks killed four healthcare workers and two children, while most of the remaining victims were Hezbollah members. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani lost an eye and suffered severe injuries in the other. 19 members of the IRGC were killed and another 150 injured in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The attack, by design, created confusion into Lebanon, as Hezbollah admitted that it had faced its greatest security breach, and the IDF's 18 September announcement that the IDF was beginning a "new phase" of the war in the north raised fears of all-out war between Israel and Lebanon.