Israel's Netanyahu authorized pager attacks on Hezbollah: spox

JERUSALEM,— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally authorized an attack using explosive devices hidden in pagers, targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon this past September, according to Omer Dostri, a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office.

The attack comes amid heightened conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, which intensified following the Gaza conflict that erupted in October 2023.

Israel’s military initially declined to comment on the details of the attack.

On September 17, a series of explosions were reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other areas where Hezbollah has a significant presence.

Thousands of pagers, after emitting a notification beep, simultaneously detonated, unleashing destruction in the immediate vicinity of these devices.

A senior Hezbollah official, speaking anonymously, described the event as the most serious security breach the organization has faced over the past year of ongoing hostilities with Israel.

The scale of casualties and the nature of the injuries underscored the impact: witnesses reported many victims with severe eye injuries, missing limbs, and shrapnel wounds, suggesting close proximity to the devices at the time of the explosion.

In total, this coordinated pager attack, followed by a secondary strike involving weaponized walkie-talkies, resulted in 39 deaths and over 3,400 injuries, according to local reports.

The level of destruction and the attack’s precise targeting raised questions about the strategic shift in Israel’s methods.

Reports from Israeli media indicate that Netanyahu took responsibility for authorizing the operation, even against objections from some defense officials and political advisors, whom he reportedly overruled in a cabinet meeting.

Hezbollah fighters have increasingly relied on pagers and other low-tech communication tools in an effort to bypass Israeli surveillance and tracking technologies, according to sources familiar with the group’s tactics.

A pager is a simple wireless device that can receive and display short messages, enabling communication without digital signals that are easier to trace.

Following the pager explosions, Israeli forces allegedly intensified their operations, targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike and launching further incursions into southern Lebanon, signaling a potential escalation in the regional conflict.

(With files from Reuters)