Hundreds of members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, including fighters and medics, were seriously injured on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded, a security source told Reuters.
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A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pager blast was the "biggest security breach" the group has suffered in nearly a year of war with Israel.
The blasts came amid escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been waging a cross-border war since the Gaza war broke out last October in the worst such escalation in years.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Reuters inquiries about the detonations.
Journalist of "Reuters" saw ambulances speeding through Beirut's southern suburbs amid widespread panic. Residents said the explosions were occurring as late as 30 minutes after the initial blasts. The security source added that devices were also exploding in southern Lebanon.
Groups of people gathered at the entrances of buildings to check on people they knew who may have been injured, the Reuters journalist said.
Regional media broadcast CCTV footage showing a small hand-held device placed next to a checkout counter in a grocery store spontaneously exploding. Other footage shows an explosion knocking out someone standing at a fruit stand in the market area.
Lebanon's crisis operations center, which is run by the health ministry, has asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help deal with the huge number of injured coming in for emergency care. It says that healthcare workers should not use pagers.
"Hezbollah" fired rockets at Israel immediately after the October 7 attacks by armed fighters of "Hamas" against Israel. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have been constantly exchanging fire while avoiding a major escalation as the war rages in Gaza to the south.
Tens of thousands of people were driven from towns and villages on both sides of the border by the hostilities.