More than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources told Reuters.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.

The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters enquiries about the detonations.

The wave of explosions lasted around an hour after the initial detonations, which took place about 3:45pm local time. It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated.

Lebanese internal security forces said a number of wireless communication devices were detonated across Lebanon, especially in Beirut’s southern suburbs, leading to injuries.