The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hammered southern Lebanon with airstrikes on Thursday afternoon, two days after thousands of Hezbollah pagers exploded, maiming hundreds, in an apparent Israeli sabotage operation. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has pronounced the attacks “a declaration of war.”
Thousands of pagers – a low-tech and supposedly secure method of communication used by Hezbollah members – simultaneously detonated across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing a dozen people and injuring 3,000 more.
A second round of explosions took place on Wednesday, this time affecting handheld radios. As of Thursday, a total of 37 people have been killed, including at least two children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
While Israel has not taken responsibility for the blasts, American, Israeli, and Lebanese sources have identified Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency as the culprit.
Immediately after the explosions, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that “a new phase” of Israel’s almost year-long war was beginning, this one focused on Hezbollah rather than Hamas.
21 September 2024
Lebanon’s Hezbollah was still handing its members new Gold Apollo branded pagers hours before thousands of the devices exploded this week, Reuters reported, citing two security sources.
Despite an ongoing sweep of electronic devices to identify threats, the group was also reportedly confident that they were safe.
One member of the Iranian-backed militia received a new pager on Monday that exploded the next day while it was still in its box, one of the sources told the agency. A pager given to a senior member just days earlier injured a subordinate when it detonated, another source said.
Japan’s Icom said it was highly unlikely that the walkie-talkies used by armed group Hezbollah that exploded on Wednesday in Lebanon, were the company’s products.
The only way to prove they were not Icom products "would have been to conduct a physical inspection of one of the damaged units," the company said.
"However, we believe that the likelihood that the devices that exploded were produced by Icom, is extremely low after comparing the many pieces of information that have come to light so far, such as the fact that the radio did not have a hologram sticker," the company said on its website Friday.
Icom also said that Lebanese authorities have determined that the wireless devices were not their company’s products.
The Japanese firm earlier said it had stopped producing the model of the devices in question around 10 years ago.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has argued that the normalization of using pagers and other wireless devices as bombs would set a dangerous precedent and be tantamount to “opening a Pandora’s box.”
“No one in this world is safe any more in the aftermath of the electronic attack which was carried out recently in Lebanon,” he told the UN Security Council.
The “unfathomable” attacks have “led to the wounding of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women and elderly,” Habib added, urging others to condemn Israel.
While Israel neither confirmed nor denied its role, it was widely reported that Mossad was responsible for rigging thousands of communication devices used by Hezbollah members with explosives. The explosions across Lebanon have killed 37 people, including Hezbollah operatives, and wounded some 3,000.
Washington has once again called for restraint in the region. “It is imperative that even as facts emerge about the latest incidents, in which I reiterate the United States played no role, all parties refrain from any actions which could plunge the region into a devastating war,” Ambassador Robert Wood told the UN Security Council.
At the same time, Wood stressed that Israel has the right to defend itself from cross-border attacks by Hezbollah. “No member of this Council, facing a terrorist organization on its border, would tolerate daily rocket attacks on its territory and the displacement of tens of thousands of its people,” he said.
20 September 2024
Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, has urged the world to take action against Hezbollah. He accused the Lebanese government of allowing “a terrorist organization to build a state within a state and wreak havoc on Lebanese citizens.”
“This is the only way to prevent further escalation,” he said.
Danon told reporters on Friday that the pro-Palestinian militant group must be driven out of southern Lebanon and prevented from carrying out cross-border attacks on Israeli cities.
“If Hezbollah is not pushed back from our border to [the] north of the Litani River through diplomatic efforts, Israel will be left with no choice but to use any means within our right to defend our citizens and enable the evacuees from the north to return to their homes,” Danon warned.
Speaking at the UN Security Council, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia condemned this week’s pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon as “a terrorist act, which poses a threat to regional peace and security.” Such attacks could have “unpredictable consequences” for the Middle East, he added.
Without blaming Israel directly, Nebenzia argued that the “organizers” of the blasts had wanted to “provoke a new major Middle Eastern war.”
He also condemned Israel’s recent airstrikes in Lebanon and called on all sides to exercise “maximum restraint” and reach “an immediate ceasefire.”
The UN Security Council has convened to discuss the situation in Lebanon. Opening the meeting, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo noted that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has already displaced more than 100,000 people in southern Lebanon and 60,000 in northern Israel.
“The exchanges of fire have caused numerous casualties, including among civilians, and significant damage to homes, civilian infrastructure and agricultural land,” she stated, adding that “the risk of further expansion of this cycle of violence is extremely serious and poses a grave threat to the security of Lebanon, Israel and the whole region.”
“Our goals are clear and our actions speak for themselves,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a short statement. Netanyahu has not acknowledged that Israel is in a state of war with Lebanon, but his announcement came a day after he said that Israel’s war aims – which until now have been focused on destroying Hamas in Gaza – have been expanded to include enabling Israelis to return to evacuated areas near the border.
Earlier this week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that “military action” was the “only way” to achieve this goal.
The wife and children of RT Arabic correspondent Hussein Ayad were injured in the Israeli airstrike, the network reported on Friday. Ayad’s family had been staying in an apartment building next to the blast site, and were taken to a nearby hospital after the incident.
RT’s press office described their survival as “miraculous,” and wished Ayad’s family a speedy recovery.
Video footage from the scene of the strike shows the target building completely leveled, and widespread damage to surrounding buildings.
The IDF has confirmed that senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in Friday’s airstrike. Two other commanders were eliminated along with Aqil, the IDF said in a statement.
Senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was the target of Friday’s airstrike, AFP has reported, citing sources within the militant group. The sources claimed that Aqil was killed in the blast.
Aqil was reportedly promoted to Hezbollah’s chief of staff – one level below the leader, Hassan Nasrallah – after Israel’s assassination of Fuad Shukr in Beirut in July.
Hezbollah hit Israel’s Mount Meron air surveillance base with “volleys of Katyusha rockets” on Friday, according to a statement from the group carried by Al Jazeera. Back in April, Hezbollah pounded the base, which sits atop the highest peak in Israel outside the occupied Golan Heights, with kamikaze drones and guided missiles.
There is still “time and space for a diplomatic solution” between Israel and Hezbollah, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said, adding that “war is not inevitable.”
However, a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday exposed major gaps between Washington officials’ public statements and their private beliefs. Despite claiming publicly that a ceasefire in Gaza is within reach, these officials are “not sure it ever gets done,” an anonymous source told the newspaper.
An Arab official told the WSJ that there is "no chance now of [a ceasefire] happening” after latest escalation in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has fired a barrage of 20 rockets into northern Israel, bringing to 170 the total number of projectiles launched by the paramilitary group on Friday, the IDF has said in a statement. Around half in the latest barrage were intercepted, the statement claimed.
The White House was not informed about the airstrike on Beirut ahead of time, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has told reporters, noting that Washington is rarely clued in to such operations. The US was also left in the dark about the apparent Israeli sabotage operation that detonated thousands of Hezbollah communications devices on Tuesday and Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.
Five children are feared dead in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, the Lebanese National News Agency reported, adding that the strike targeted an apartment in one of residential buildings. The attack was carried out by an Israeli F-35, which launched two missiles, according to the outlet.
An Israeli strike in Beirut targeted an unnamed prominent Hezbollah figure, several media outlets have reported, citing sources. It is unclear whether the official survived.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have claimed to have “conducted a targeted strike” in Beirut, without providing further details. However, media reports suggest that the attack was aimed at a Hezbollah stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital.
Israel does not want war, but is entitled to live in peace, security, and tranquility, President Isaac Herzog said, arguing that this was the reason for what he called the “precise and impressive actions of Israel’s Air Force against Hezbollah” last night.
Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has assured Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that West Jerusalem will face retaliation over the alleged Israeli sabotage.
“I declare that such terrorist acts, that are undoubtedly due to the desperation and successive failures of the Zionist regime, will soon be met with a crushing response from the resistance front and we will witness complete destruction of this cruel and criminal regime,” he wrote in a letter cited by IRNA news agency.
Around 20 rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel on Friday afternoon, bringing the total number of projectiles launched over the past day to 150, the Times of Israel has reported, citing the country’s military. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier claimed that many rockets have been intercepted.
The pager explosion operation across the Middle East has highlighted concerns about the possibility of weaponizing supply chains to stage large-scale sabotage operations, Bloomberg reported, citing security experts.
The agency noted that the alleged Israeli operation against Hezbollah is “giving new urgency to global leaders’ drive to reduce their dependence on technologies from rivals,” with US-China trade relations coming into focus.
“If Israel can do this, China can do it too,” US Representative Seth Moulton told Bloomberg, adding that “opaque supply chains leave gaps that can too easily be exploited.”
The wave of pager and portable radio explosions targeting Hezbollah operatives allegedly orchestrated by Israel “does not stand by itself” and “might start a more decisive war in Lebanon,” former Mossad chief Danny Yatom has told The Washington Post.
He added that the attack was meant “to cause panic, and stress and shock” within Hezbollah, as well as to show that Israel is capable of breaching the group’s most secure lines of communication.
Oded Eilam, a former senior Mossad operative, described the apparent sabotage as Hezbollah’s “Pearl Harbor,” adding, however, that “the timing wasn’t the optimal one.” An unnamed Israel official echoed this view, suggesting that West Jerusalem had limited time to detonate the explosives because of the high risk of the plot being uncovered.
The Post also noted that “Washington has been trying furiously to head off a wider conflict” as tensions flared between Lebanon and Israel.
Bulgaria did not have any direct involvement with the shipment of pagers to Lebanon linked to a wave of explosions this week, government officials said on Friday.
The security agency DANS and other parts of the government investigated a Bulgarian firm over a connection with the Hungarian company BAC, which is suspected of being an Israeli intelligence front for funneling explosives-rigged devices to Hezbollah.
The probe confirmed that Bulgaria was not involved in the import, manufacturing, or export of the pagers, DANS said. The firm’s records did not indicate that it falls under national counterterrorism laws or international sanctions, it added.
Bulgarian officials did not identify the company in question, but local media previously reported that it was a Sofia-based business named Norta Global Ltd. Presumably, it is another shell company which is owned by Indian-born Norwegian tech entrepreneur Rinson Jose.
The Oslo Police District announced on Thursday evening that they have launched preliminary investigations into the man’s possible role in the scheme. Jose was allegedly used by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and is now shocked about the situation, according to media reports.
Moscow has reiterated its condemnation of what Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described as “unprecedented terrorist attacks” against Lebanon. At a press briefing on Friday morning, she also expressed concern over Israel’s announcement of a “new phase” of confrontation with Hezbollah.
Zakharova called the pager bombings a “principally new kind of terrorist act,” citing its scale and use of civilian technology. Russia is calling for a thorough investigation into what happened, she added.
”We are convinced that the start of a full-scale military operation in Lebanon would have the most destructive consequences for the security of the entire Middle East. This catastrophic scenario must be avoided,” she said, referring to a potential Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
David Azoulai, who heads the council of the Israeli border town of Metula, complained to the media about the heavy damage done to the evacuated settlement by recent Hezbollah strikes and a lack of government support.
”Unfortunately, I don’t hear much from either the statesmen or our military personnel. We are in a sort of ‘deal with it yourself and break your head’ situation,” the regional official told Israel’s Radio 103, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
”The Israeli government is not doing anything to remove the threat,” he added.
The components used in rigged pagers did not originate from Taiwan, local authorities confirmed.
Hezbollah ordered the devices from the Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, which said it outsourced the contract to the Budapest-based company BAC.
”The components are low-end IC [integrated circuits] and batteries,” Taiwanese Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters on Friday. “I can say with certainty they were not made in Taiwan.”
The Hungarian government has told the media that BAC has no manufacturing facilities in the country and that the pagers were never on its soil.
It was previously reported that BAC was a shell firm set up by Mossad to dupe Hezbollah into purchasing compromised pagers.
The recent redeployment of an Israeli commando division from Gaza to the border with Lebanon may indicate preparations for a ground invasion, a US defense official told The Wall Street Journal.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “new phase in the war” with Hezbollah. He told US special envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday in Tel Aviv that “the only way left to return the residents of the North [Israel] to their homes is via military action,” according to a statement from the minister’s office.
”I am very concerned about this spiraling out of control,” the unnamed WSJ source said.
A full-scale invasion would require weeks of additional preparation, but small ground operations may begin sooner, the official suggested.
Israeli intelligence has been planning “supply chain interdiction” operations for at least 15 years, ABC News reported, citing a US intelligence source.
The source claimed that the CIA “has long been reluctant to employ this tactic because the risk to innocents was too high,” the outlet said.
China opposes “any act that infringes on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday during a media briefing, commenting on the mass explosions this week.
Beijing is concerned over possible escalation of tensions and calls on “all parties to earnestly safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East,” the official added.
The US Department of State has declined to assess whether Israel broke international humanitarian law by weaponizing pagers and other devices against Hezbollah.
”We take into account all of the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law,” spokesman Matthew Miller said, when asked if the Jewish state violated the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). “I don’t pronounce judgment on those from this podium.”
The Amended Protocol II of the CCW, which deals with mines and booby traps, prohibits the use of such items “in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material.”
According to Western media reports, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad produced pagers with pre-installed explosive charges and delivered them to Hezbollah through a shell company. The shipments reportedly started in the summer of 2023.
Washington has commented on the claims made by Nasrallah in his speech on Thursday that some Western nations reached out to Hezbollah after the pager attack and urged it to normalize the situation on the Israeli border.
“Nasrallah could stop the terrorist attacks across Israel. And I guarantee you, if he did that, we would be impressing upon Israel the need to maintain calm on their end. The bottom line is he hasn’t stopped those terrorist attacks,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a regular press briefing.
He declined to state whether the US would support an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, should it happen, but said Washington’s commitment to Israel’s self-defense remained iron-clad.
19 September 2024
Britain has joined the calls for an end to the hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.
“Tonight I’m calling for an immediate ceasefire from both sides,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Reuters. London wants “a negotiated political settlement so that Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel and indeed Lebanese to return to their homes,” he added.
In a statement on Thursday night, the IDF said that its warplanes struck some 30 Hezbollah launchers and sites that contained “150 launcher barrels that were ready to fire projectiles toward Israeli territory.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has joined Emmanuel Macron in calling on both sides to show restraint. “France and the United States are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to the Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular,” Blinken said in Paris, after a meeting with his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne.
“We don’t want to see any escalatory actions by any party,” he added, warning that escalation would endanger the goal of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting military commanders to discuss Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah, Israel’s Army Radio has reported. “The military will outline several possible courses of action, and the political leadership will face important decisions,” security officials told the broadcaster.
Israeli commanders are being instructed to wait for a response from Hezbollah before launching a major new operation against the group, the Jerusalem Post has reported, citing “various sources.” According to the newspaper, the IDF has no plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon at the moment.
French President Emmanuel Macron has appealed to Hezbollah and its allies to “act responsibly in order to avoid an escalation.” In a statement released by his office, Macron also expressed the “deepest concern” that Israel’s apparent sabotage operation on Hezbollah pagers and radios would trigger “a dangerous escalation of tensions in the region,” and announced that he would urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “avoid war.”
Lebanon was governed as a French protectorate between 1920 and 1944, and French peacekeepers served in the country throughout the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Hossein Salami has vowed that Israel will face a “crushing response from the axis of resistance,” according to Iranian media.
”Such terrorist acts are undoubtedly the result of the Zionist regime’s despair and successive failures. This will soon be met with a crushing response from the axis of resistance and we will witness the destruction of this bloodthirsty and criminal regime,” Salami reportedly said in a message to Nasrallah.
The ‘Axis of Resistance’ refers to an informal grouping of Iranian-aligned and anti-Israel forces in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi forces in Yemen, and Shia militias in Iraq and Syria.
Any attempt by Israel to invade southern Lebanon will give Hezbollah a “historic opportunity” and have “dire consequences” for the IDF, Nasrallah has said.
Regardless of whether the IDF sends troops into Lebanon, “there will be a just punishment” for the Jewish state after this week’s attacks, he continued, adding: “I will not say when, where or how. You will know when the time comes.”
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks along the Israel-Lebanon border on Wednesday, the IDF has said in a statement. Nine other IDF troops were wounded in the attacks.
Nasrallah conceded that the attack of Tuesday and Wednesday represented an “unprecedented” security blow against Hezbollah. However, he claimed that the group’s senior command infrastructure “was not touched,” and that it is “more resolved” than ever to continue operations against Israel.
As Nasrallah spoke, Israeli fighter jets swooped over Beirut, dropping flares and creating loud sonic booms in an apparent bid to disrupt the Hezbollah leader’s address.
At least one strike appeared to hit a residential area of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, around 20km north of the Israel-Lebanon border, according to footage posted on social media.
In a statement announcing the airstrikes, the IDF claimed that Hezbollah has “turned south Lebanon into a war zone” and concealed weapons in civilian homes.