Miller's statement comes after Lebanon's Health Minister confirmed a series of explosions across the country, resulting in the deaths of at least eight people and injuring 2,750 others
People gather at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters. Pic/AFP
The United States has said that it was "not involved" and "not aware in advance" about the series of pager explosions that took place in Lebanon.
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While addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US is gathering information about the incident that happened in Lebanon.
Speaking further on the incident, Miller said, "We are gathering information on this incident. I can tell you that the US was not involved in it. The US was not aware of this incident in advance. At this point, we're gathering information."
Miller's statement comes after Lebanon's Health Minister confirmed a series of explosions across the country, resulting in the deaths of at least eight people and injuring 2,750 others.
When asked what information the US has gathered, he said, "We continue to collect information. I don't have any public readout. We are collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened."
In response to another query about whether the US has any doubt about Israel's involvement in the incident, he said, "I don't have any assessment one way or another at this point."
He further said that he will not speculate on the impact of any incident, particularly in the early stages. He said that US wants to see diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Asked about any message the US wants to give Israel, Miller said, "I never want to comment or speculate about the impact of any one incident, especially in the early stages of the incident. I am not going to do so here, that has been our policy to try to avoid doing. Our overall policy remains consistent, which is we do want to see a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. We want to see one that allows the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced from their homes and tens of thousands of Lebanese who have been displaced from their homes to return home. That's what we are continuing to pursue."
Asked if there were indications that Iran could take advantage, given reports that the Iranian ambassador in Lebanon was injured, Matthew Miller said he did not want to speculate until those reports were confirmed. He said that the US would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident to try to further increase tensions in the region.
"I have seen the reports. I don't want to speak to what the implications might be before a report is confirmed. But certainly, as is always the case, we would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident, any instability, to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region. That has been our message to Iran since October 7," he said.
The blasts in Lebanon were caused by exploding handheld pagers, according to a report by Al Jazeera. Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad informed that 200 people are in critical condition after the communication devices exploded on Tuesday. He also said that the victims are receiving treatment in over 150 hospitals.
In a statement earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah said that "pagers belonging to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions exploded," killing two of its fighters and a girl. The group further said that it was investigating to determine the causes of the explosions.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the explosion of handheld pagers as the organisation's "biggest security breach" in nearly a year, according to Al Jazeera.
No official statement has been released by the Israeli military regarding the explosions in Lebanon. Earlier, Arab media had reported that some 1,000 Hezbollah operatives so far have been injured by exploding pagers and radios.
Reports suggest that Hezbollah figures in Syria were also injured in the apparently simultaneous blasts. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured by the explosion of an electronic pager, Al Jazeera reported.
Social media is rife with videos that caught the explosions, their aftermath, and chaos in Lebanese hospitals. Unverified Arab media reports have attributed the blasts to an Israeli cyber attack.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was slightly injured by the explosion of an electronic pager, Al Jazeera reported.
Notably, Israel's Security Cabinet on Monday night updated its official war goals. Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza's goals includes the objective of allowing residents of the north to return safely to their homes after being displaced by attacks by Hezbollah, according to Israel's Prime Minister's Office, The Times of Israel reported.
In a statement, Israel's Prime Minister's Office stated, "The safe return of the residents of the north to their homes" has now been added as a fourth objective to the war," The Times of Israel reported.
After a late-night meeting of the security cabinet in Tel Aviv on Monday, the statement said, "Israel will continue to act to achieve this goal." Notably, Israel has been engaged in a conflict with Hamas following the October 7 attacks.
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