Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on "all parties" to avoid escalating the regional conflict caused by the war between Hamas and Israel. Speaking in Cairo, Egypt, Blinken said the U.S. had no knowledge of or involvement in "these incidents" in which at least nine people were killed and thousands injured by exploding pagers in Lebanon.

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.