{"id":274114,"date":"2024-09-23T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T11:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=274114"},"modified":"2024-09-23T14:38:31","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T13:38:31","slug":"nine-killed-and-2750-wounded-across-lebanon-as-pagers-explode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/09\/nine-killed-and-2750-wounded-across-lebanon-as-pagers-explode\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Killed and 2,750 Wounded across Lebanon as Pagers Explode"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Lebanon’s Pagers explosion–state terrorism by Israel.\u00a0 Al Jazeera<\/p><\/div>\n

17 Sep 2024 – Exploding handheld pagers across Lebanon: Hezbollah official calls it the group\u2019s \u2018biggest security breach\u2019 as<\/em> devices were detonated in coordinated attack by Israel with<\/em> injuries to the face, hands and stomach.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At least nine people were killed and about 2,750 were wounded by exploding handheld pagers<\/a> across Lebanon, the country\u2019s health minister has said.<\/p>\n

Firass Abiad said that an eight-year-old girl was among those killed and that more than 200 people are in critical condition after the communication devices exploded on Tuesday, with injuries mostly reported to the face, hands and stomach.<\/p>\n

Update, 18 Sep 2024: <\/strong>\u2018An Act of Terror\u2019: Israel Behind Pager Explosions That Killed 11, Wounded Thousands<\/em><\/a>\u00a0– Common Dreams<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah blamed Israel for the spree of pager blasts, saying it will get \u201cits fair punishment\u201d, according to a statement released by the Iran-backed group which has been exchanging almost daily cross-border fire with Israel<\/a> for almost a year.<\/p>\n

There was no comment on the blasts from the Israeli military.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah said in an earlier statement on Tuesday that two of its fighters and a girl were killed as \u201cpagers belonging to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions exploded\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Hezbollah official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the explosion of the pagers<\/a> was the \u201cbiggest security breach\u201d the group has experienced since October 7, when Israel\u2019s war on Gaza began following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured by the pager explosions on Tuesday, Iran\u2019s Mehr news agency reported.<\/p>\n

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a regular news briefing the United States was not involved in the incidents and did not know who was responsible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are gathering information on this incident,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI can tell you that the US was not involved in it. The US was not aware of this incident in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said it appears the devices were detonated in a coordinated attack, which represented a \u201cmajor development\u201d in the hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a major security breach. Hezbollah\u2019s communication devices have been compromised. We have seen pictures from across Lebanon of men lying on the floor wounded, bleeding. We have seen reports of hospitals asking for blood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said \u201cnear-simultaneous explosions\u201d were reported in southern Lebanon, in the east of the country and in Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, where there was widespread panic.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had called on his fighters a few months ago to stop using smartphones because Israel has the technology to infiltrate those devices, Khodr said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now they\u2019ve resorted to this different communications system using pagers, and it seems they have been penetrated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Elijah Magnier, an independent military and political analyst, said Hezbollah relies heavily on pagers to prevent Israel from intercepting its communications, and he speculated that the pagers would have had to have been tampered with before being distributed to Hezbollah members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a new system. It has been used in the past \u2026 so in this case, there has been involvement of a third party \u2026 to allow access \u2026to remotely activate the explosions,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese explosions \u2026 are powerful enough to [severely] hit the psychology of Hezbollah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel announced the expansion of its official war aims<\/a> to include enabling Israelis who have fled areas near the Lebanese border to return to their homes, widening its nearly yearlong fight against Hamas in Gaza to focus on Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

The exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon have forced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe political-security cabinet updated the goals of the war this evening, so that they include the following section: the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said in a statement early on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah have killed hundreds of people, mostly fighters, in Lebanon and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said \u201cmilitary action\u201d was the \u201conly way left to ensure the return of Israel\u2019s northern communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah claimed a dozen attacks on Israeli positions on Monday and three more on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – aljazeera.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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