Israel plants explosives in Hezbollah's pagers

Thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing 12 and wounding nearly 3,000 others

FE Team | Published: September 18, 2024 21:53:00

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center on Wednesday after explosions hit several Hezbollah strongholds — AFP

AMMAN, Sept 18 (Reuters/AFP): Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.
The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing 12 people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut.
The Lebanese security source said the pagers were from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but the company said in a statement it did not manufacture the devices. It said they were made by a company called BAC which has a licence to use its brand, but gave no more details.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts.
Hezbollah 'will
continue' fight
to support Gaza
Lebanon's Hezbollah said Wednesday it "will continue, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza", after a deadly wave of exploding pagers the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.
"This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday," the group said in a statement issued on Telegram.
The European Union's foreign policy chief on Wednesday condemned explosions of pagers carried by Lebanese militants Hezbollah that the group blamed on Israel.