Beirut, Lebanon - Thousands of people were wounded when Hezbollah members' paging devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, in what a source close to the militant movement said was an "Israeli breach" of its communications.

The explosions on Tuesday afternoon hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around the country, in the first such incident since the group began trading near-daily fire with Israel in support of the besieged Palestinian people.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel had announced a broadening of the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah along the northern border with Lebanon.

According to Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad, the explosions wounded hundreds of people across the country, with the latest reports putting the casualty toll over 2,000.

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A source close to Hezbollah said dozens of the group's members had been wounded in blasts in Beirut's southern suburbs and the south of the country, while another source said that the incident was a result of an "Israeli breach" of its communications, which caused the devices to overheat until they blew up.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Hezbollah had instructed its members to avoid mobile phones after the Gaza war began and to rely instead on its own telecommunications system to prevent Israeli breaches.

An AFP photographer in Beirut's southern suburbs saw ambulances rushing injured people to hospitals in the area.

A photographer in central Beirut saw dozens of victims transported to another hospital.

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An AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon said dozens of people were wounded in similar incidents in the Bekaa Valley.

In Lebanon's south, an AFP correspondent reported dozens of ambulances rushing between the cities of Tyre and Sidon in both directions, with hospitals in both cities cordoned off.

The health ministry in a statement asked "all hospitals in... areas near the locations of the injured, to be on high alert and raise their level of preparedness", and "all health workers to urgently go to their workplaces" to assist.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it was on "high alert" in a statement shared on X.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported "an unprecedented enemy security incident" with "hand-held pagers detonating" in several regions.

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also reportedly injured in the attack.

According to Al Jazeera, at least eight people, including a child, were killed in the suspected Israeli operation that caused Hezbollah pagers to simultaneously explode all over Lebanon.

Among the more than 2,750 people reportedly injured, hundreds are said to be in critical care, with hospitals overwhelmed.

The catastrophic escalation has raised fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The US said Tuesday it was not aware in advance and had no involvement in the mass explosions of pagers that targeted Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

"I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance, and, at this point, we're gathering information," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Nine people have been killed and some 2,800 injured, with about 200 in critical condition, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad.