[Today’s Prayer] Hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded... "9 dead, 2,750 injured"

Hundreds of pagers, mainly used by the militant group Hezbollah, exploded simultaneously across Lebanon, killing at least nine people and injuring 2,750, foreign media outlets including the Associated Press reported.

According to AP and other sources on the 17th (local time), explosions occurred throughout Lebanon, mainly in Hezbollah strongholds such as the southern and eastern Bekaa Valleys and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. According to Lebanese health authorities, nine people died and 2,750 were injured in the accident. Of these, 200 are in critical condition.

The explosions continued for about an hour, starting at 3:30 p.m. Some of the victims were checking their screens when the call went off, so most of the victims suffered hand injuries, and some suffered abdominal injuries.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also found that a caller device exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus, which borders Israel and Lebanon, injuring 14 people, including Hezbollah fighters.

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured but his life is not in danger, Iranian media report

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the bombing and vowed revenge. In a statement released that day, Hezbollah condemned Israel, saying, “We hold Israel fully responsible” and “it will surely receive its just punishment.” Hamas said, “We strongly condemn this Zionist terrorist attack targeting Lebanese civilians.”

Iran, which supports Hezbollah and Hamas, also described the blast as an "act of terrorism." The Lebanese government said after a cabinet meeting that it "unanimously condemns this criminal Israeli attack that blatantly violates Lebanon's sovereignty."

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makkari said his country was in contact with the United Nations to hold Israel accountable.

Lebanon's Health Ministry has asked all citizens to discard their pagers immediately.

Hezbollah recently introduced pagers for communication security. This is after Hezbollah's top leader Hassan Nasrallah warned in February not to use cell phones because they could be used for location tracking and targeted attacks. It is reported that the pager that exploded that day had a sticker from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo on it. This pager is a communication device that was called a "pager" in the past and was used to send and receive ringtones or short messages.

SMEX, a digital human rights group in West Asia and North Africa, suspects that Israel may have tampered with the device or planted an explosive device

The explosion came less than a day after Israel's security cabinet formally added the safe return of Israelis from northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, to its war goals.

Source: News

“Hasten, O God, to save me; come quickly, Lord, to help me.” (Psalm 70:1)

God, we pray with a heavy heart as we see that the Arab world has not had even a few days of peace.

The conflict between the two nations of Lebanon and Israel is set to escalate, we pray that the global church will be more vigilant in praying for these two people together!

We also pray that the news of so many conflicts and wars, not just between these two peoples, but throughout the entire Arab world, will now come to an end at the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all peoples.

It is He alone who will deliver, save, and help them! We confess that no other name in the world is to be given to our Lord but His.

Lord, we expect, trust, and hope that all the ongoing conflict between Lebanon and Israel will now come to an end before You, the great God, and that You will continue Your work of life through these events.

And for the souls who have been killed or wounded in this conflict, and for their families, may Your comfort and Your work of grace begin as we confess and praise again that the hope of the earth is in Jesus Christ alone!