War Preparations Build After 9 Killed, 2700+ Wounded In Israel's Pager Attack On Hezbollah
Update(1445ET): Official Lebanese Health Ministry figures are that nine people were killed in the simultaneous pager explosions, including a young girl, and some 2,750 wounded. The Lebanese government has identified "Israeli aggression" as being behind the attack, while Hezbollah also says it holds Israel "fully responsible". Israel has yet to issue official comment, but there are several reports from the region that war preparations are underway. There are reports of evening Israeli shelling of Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon.
Israel's Channel 14 is reporting that "senior Israeli military officials are preparing for a third Hezbollah war which is expected to begin almost immediately." The US State Department has said the US "was not aware of this operation and was not involved" in the attack. The Biden administration says it is "still gathering information".
The WSJ has offered some initial details on the sophisticated attack, which Lebanese and Arabs have condemned as a major 'terror attack'. "The affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days, people familiar with the matter said," WSJ writes. "A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters had such devices, speculating that malware may have caused the devices to explode. The official said some people felt the pagers heat up and disposed of them before they burst."
And more: "Hezbollah said a number of pagers carried by its members exploded simultaneously at 3:30 p.m. It couldn’t immediately be determined what caused the blasts, which were spread out across the country in several areas where Hezbollah has a heavy presence."
Israeli media says Mossad rigged the pager batteries of a shipment that was imported five months ago:
The Israeli spy agency placed a quantity of PETN, a highly explosive material, on the batteries of the devices, and detonated them by raising the temperature of the batteries from afar, the source says.
There are initial reports that more European airlines have began cancelling flights to Lebanon and Israel amid more headlines of war plans. Lebanese schools and colleges have announced widespread closures tomorrow. The US administration appears to be standing idly by in the meantime.
War looks imminent:
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Update(1050ET): An eyewitness tells Al Jazeera: "There’s more than 400 men here. Their pagers exploded, the ones they use for communication." There are regional Lebanese media reports of over 1,200 Hezbollah operatives injured.
Reuters is confirming that Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani is among the wounded in the series of pager explosions, based on a report in Iran’s Mehr news outlet. Follow up reports say he was only lightly injured. Some of the explosions happened in Syria as well, reports say. There are reports of civilian deaths in Beirut, including children. Some of the explosions happened inside homes, where the pagers were on shelves or bedstands.
An Al Jazeera correspondent writes, "We are talking about hundreds of members of the group in hospitals. We are seeing videos online of injuries to their arms, to their legs, even to their faces." The Lebanese Health Ministry is urging for doctors and nurses to rush to south Beirut hospitals amid a shortage. Reuters is reporting that among the confirmed killed is a Hezbollah Member of Parliament's son, who was part of the armed wing. According to more of the latest:
- Eight dead, 2,750 injured in Lebanon exploding pagers: minister
- Health Ministry: 200 people in critical condition
From an alleged Hezbollah source cited in AP and Israeli media:
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, says the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices.”
“The enemy [Israel] stands behind this security incident,” the official says, without elaborating.
He adds that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying have lithium batteries that apparently exploded.
Does this signal the start of a larger anti-Hezbollah campaign? It appears so. And Hezbollah is definitely expected to escalate from its side. This could be the start of a new Lebanon war, bigger in scope that than the 2006 war.
Many will ask: why pagers? A regional correspondent and past ZeroHedge contributor explains:
Military analyst Elijah Magnier has told Al Jazeera that Hezbollah relies heavily on the so-called pagers to avoid Israel intercepting its members’ communications.
He also suggested that these devices might have been pre-tampered before they were dispersed among Hezbollah members.
“This is not a new system. It has been used in the past,” he said. “So in this case there has been involvement of a third party … to allow access … to remotely activate the explosion,” he said.
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An apparent covert Mossad operation has unleashed chaos in a southern Beirut neighborhood on Tuesday, resulting in large-scale casualties among Hezbollah operatives and reportedly Lebanese civilians.
Telecommunications devices used by Hezbollah members began exploding, resulting in up to hundreds wounded in the suburb of Dahiyeh. There appears to be fatalities, according to graphic social media images.
Reuters reports, "Hundreds of members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, including fighters and medics, were seriously wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded," according to security sources. Al Jazeera has cited eyewitnesses who say there are over 400 victims at just one hospital.
"A Reuters journalist saw 10 Hezbollah members bleeding from wounds in the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh," the report continues.
It is as yet unclear how precisely Israeli intelligence was able to infiltrate Hezbollah's telecoms - whether small bombs were placed in the pagers or possibly the result of some kind of large-scale cyberhack. But what is becoming clear is that they were remotely detonated.
A Hezbollah official was cited anonymously in Reuters, calling the incident the "biggest security breach" the group has ever faced since the start of the nearly-year long conflict with Israel. Groups like Hezbollah often use low-tech devices to communicate with each other, given cell phones are easier for intelligence services to intercept.
"Residents said explosions were taking place even 30 minutes after the initial blasts," the report notes further, citing eyewitnesses. People are also urgently calling for blood donations, given this appears a mass casualty event.
Local hospitals are said to be inundated with victims as well as groups of family members rushing to entrances trying to find out what's going on.
Israel has yet to comment on the apparent covert operation.
A prominent Lebanese and regional war monitor account had this to say...
Most videos are too graphic, but the below shows some of the chaos in the aftermath of the initial explosions.
developing...
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