Lebanese health officials estimated up to around 4,000 wounded, with 200 in critical condition and 11 killed.
By YONAH JEREMY BOB, JACOB LAZNIK, REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
In the most significant hit Lebanese terrorist and Iranian proxy group Hezbollah has taken in recent years, in an event that rocked Lebanon, over 3,600 people were wounded throughout the country on Tuesday – a large majority of them Hezbollah members – at around 3:30 p.m., when the pagers that they used to communicate exploded. Additional Hezbollah operatives in Syria and Iraq fell victim to the attack as well.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said that around 4,000 were wounded and 200 people were critically wounded, and the ministry was closing in on a dozen who had already died.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was reportedly wounded in the explosion, according to Iranian state-owned Mehr News Agency, as were a variety of senior Hezbollah officials and relatives of the terrorist group’s parliamentary MPs.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was reportedly unharmed – or at least still was in command – and the group’s public relations arm issued multiple messages blaming Israel, threatening a powerful counterstrike.
Later in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with other top defense officials to evaluate the state of play between the sides.
Likewise, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi later held a situation assessment with the IDF high command.
At around 8:15 p.m., the IDF Home Front Command said that there was no change in defensive guidelines or movement restrictions, though virtually all Israeli defense officials were expecting a significant response from Hezbollah.
In an initial statement, Hezbollah said, “This afternoon, several messaging devices known as ‘pagers,’ which are owned by a number of workers in various Hezbollah units and institutions, exploded.”
It said that it was carrying out an investigation to determine the causes of the blasts, with many different theories surfacing.
A senior Lebanese security source told Al Hadath that Israel infiltrated the communication system of individual devices and detonated them.
According to reports, the beepers and communications devices were called before they exploded, increasing the chances that whoever received the call would pick it up and be maximally wounded.
The pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months – well into the 11 months of cross-border fire with Israel – three security sources told Reuters.
A Hezbollah official cited by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said that hundreds of members had such pager devices, and speculated that malware could have caused them to heat up and explode. The same official cited by the WSJ said that some people felt the pagers heat up, disposing of them before they exploded.
The report also quoted Hezbollah officials as stating that the number of casualties was rising too quickly for them to keep track of the count.
One such 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.
Another Lebanese security source claimed that Israel hacked into Hezbollah’s radio communication system and caused the explosions.
According to Al Hadath, the IDF detonated the communication devices remotely, using advanced technology. However, Israel has not taken responsibility for the explosions.
Ambulances rushed through the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut, amid widespread panic. Residents said explosions were taking place even 30 minutes after the initial blasts.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry urged health workers to head to hospitals, according to the Arab media channel NBN.
Hussein Mortada, a Hezbollah-affiliated journalist who works for the Syrian news agency Al-Alam, warned individuals and media in Lebanon not to post any videos or photos of the event, especially of the wounded, on X/Twitter.
Israel has struggled – for a year now – with the challenge of creating a new security situation in the North. 60,000 border residents were evacuated in October 2023 following an unprovoked rocket attack by Hezbollah, and have since been unable to return to their homes.
Israel's previous responses to Hezbollah
From October until December, Israel mostly kept its responses very limited.
From December and through February, the IDF started to actively hunt down Hezbollah aggressors and potential attackers, targeting them as they hid in populated villages, and killing a range of Hezbollah commanders.
From March until July, there were ups and downs in the conflict with Hezbollah, with some days seeing single digits of rockets or drone attacks, and others seeing as many as 200 rockets in a single day.
Further, as time went on, both Israel and Hezbollah started attacking areas in the other side’s territory further from the border and larger cities. Hezbollah attacked Safed and Nahariya, and the IDF attacked as far as Baalback, which is 100 kilometers into Lebanese territory.
However, on July 30, Israel killed Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
When Hezbollah prepared to launch several hundred – up to 1,000 – rockets on Israel on August 25, the IDF carried out a massive preemptive strike, eliminating the vast majority of the threats. The terrorist group did manage to launch between 250-350 aerial threats, causing minor damage.
But with the IDF completing its defeat of Hamas’s last battalion in Rafah on August 21, Israel has turned its attention toward resolving the conflict with Hezbollah by diplomacy if possible. However, the more probable option of using military force was increasing.
The Jerusalem Post has received a number of indications in recent days that the chances of a much larger battle with Hezbollah were now the highest they have been since the start of the war.
Hours after the Shin Bet revealed a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a top former Israeli defense official, and after a reported meeting between Mossad director David Barnea and Netanyahu, the beeper explosions started to go off.
Despite announcing his upcoming resignation, the Post has learned that IDF Brig.-Gen. Unit 8200 Commander Yossi Sariel was still in command of Israel’s prized cyber attack unit at this time.
18/09/2024 by THE JERUSALEM POST
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