Lebanon's Hezbollah was still handing its members new Gold Apollo branded pagers hours before thousands blew up this week, two security sources said, indicating the group was confident the devices were safe despite an ongoing sweep of electronic kit to identify threats.

The explosions of devices in Lebanon this week returned the spotlight to the 70-year-old technology that remains popular with medical professionals and emergency workers.

Lebanon blamed Israel for attacks on Hezbollah's devices killed 37 and wounded around 3,000, wreaking bloody havoc on the militant group.