From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 11, 2024
In first confirmation, spokesperson says Netanyahu approved Hezbollah pager attack
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved pager attacks that dealt a deadly blow to the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in September, Omer Dostri, spokesperson for his office, says.
The statement marks the first official confirmation that Israel was behind the attack, although it has been widely blamed for it by Hezbollah and others.
On Sept. 17, thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds, in most cases after the devices beeped, indicating an incoming message.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was the “biggest security breach” for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
Among the victims rushed to hospital, many had eye injuries, missing fingers or gaping holes in their abdomens, Reuters witnesses saw, indicating their proximity to the devices at the time of detonation.
In total, the pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponized walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility for the attack during a closed-door cabinet meeting, telling ministers that senior defense officials and political figures were opposed to the detonation of the pagers but that he went ahead with the operation.
Hezbollah operatives have been using pagers instead of phones as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year. A pager is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays messages.
Israel followed up the pager detonations with the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike and incursions in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas massacre that killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and saw 251 taken hostage.
Israel stepped up its assault on Hezbollah in September in a bid to get tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis safely back to their homes in northern Israel.
