The US, which denied any involvement in the blasts, said it was pursuing intensive diplomacy to avert an escalation of the conflict.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel told Washington on Tuesday it was going to do something in Lebanon. But Israel did not provide details and the operation itself was a surprise to Washington, the official said.
At least one of Wednesday’s blasts in Lebanon took place near a funeral organised by Iran-backed Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of the group’s pagers exploded across the country and wounded many of its fighters.
A Reuters reporter in the southern suburbs of Beirut said he saw Hezbollah members frantically taking batteries out of any walkie-talkies that had not exploded, tossing the parts in metal barrels.
Hezbollah turned to pagers and other low-tech communication devices in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance of mobile phones.
Lebanon’s Red Cross said on X that it responded with 30 ambulance teams to multiple explosions in different areas, including the south of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
