Blinken says US did not know about exploding pagers in Lebanon, calls for restraint

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the U.S. did not know about and was not involved in a wave of exploding pagers targeting Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, and urged restraint among all parties to avoid escalating further conflict in the Middle East. 

“With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents. We’re still gathering the information, gathering the facts,” Blinken said during a press conference alongside his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty.

His remarks came following the death of at least 12 people, reportedly including two children, and about 2,800 injuries caused by pagers used by Hezbollah operatives exploding over a one-hour period Tuesday. The U.S.-designated terrorist group has blamed Israel for the attack, but the Israeli military has declined to comment.

“I can’t tell you, in this moment, what impact it will have. I certainly can’t speak to what impact it might have on Hezbollah and its operations. … It’s also necessary to fully understand what’s happened, and we’re still in the process of doing that,” Blinken said. 

Blinken was in Cairo for the U.S.-Egypt Strategic Dialogue but was also pushing for the realization of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, coming upon the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and that set off the multifront conflict in the Middle East. 

“We’ve been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza. To see it spread to other fronts — it’s clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen,” Blinken said. 

“We’re focused on getting this cease-fire over the finish line, that would also, I think, materially improve the prospects of actually defusing the situation in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.”