A coordinated and massive attack that has exploded the pagers used by members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah to communicate has caused this Tuesday at least nine dead and about 2,800 wounded, 200 of them seriously. The events, which Hezbollah has described as the “biggest security violation” it has been subjected to in a year of war with Israel, have occurred in Beirut, in several regions controlled by the Shiite group in the south of the country and even in Syrian territory.
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Ambulances are still speeding through the southern suburbs of the capital amid widespread panic. The Lebanese Red Cross has announced that more than thirty of its ambulances are responding to “multiple explosions” in southern Lebanon, while others are serving in and around Beirut.
Hezbollah has already vowed “just revenge” and confirmed the deaths of at least nine people. Among them the son of a Lebanese parliamentarian, Ali Ammar, and a girl who died in the Baalbek district of northeastern Lebanon. The 10-year-old girl, identified as Fatima Jaafar Abdullah, died when her father’s pager exploded “next to her”.
The Lebanese authorities have put most of the hospitals on alert and the Ministry of Health has issued a statement acknowledging that the situation is “urgent” because of the “large number of wounded”. In addition, it has asked the population in possession of this type of device to stay away from it.
Likewise, the government has appealed to all medical personnel to go to their centers urgently, while it has asked the population to facilitate the transport of ambulances on the roads. They have also asked hospitals to treat all the injured without exception. In social networks have published videos of the moment in which pagers explode in the pockets of people in the street or in local stores.
Hezbollah is beyond embarrassed at the moment, they announce (not sure how 🤣)
“Everyone must throw away their pagers immediately” pic.twitter.com/aPDb5ZIBA3— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 17, 2024
One of those injured in the chain of bush explosions is Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, according to Iranian media. Along with him, two other members of the diplomatic service have been wounded. All of them have been taken to a hospital in the capital.
Several members of the Lebanese Shiite group who were on Syrian territory were also wounded by the explosion of paging devices. The wounded were transferred to hospitals in Damascus and Rif Damascus province.
Initial reports suggest that Israel hacked into these devices in the possession of Hezbollah members and remotely set them off. Information Minister Ziad Makary was the first member of the Lebanese government to point the finger at the Hebrew state as the perpetrator of the massive and coordinated attack. Makary also said he is in contact with the UN to “hold the culprit accountable”.
The Israeli military has not yet commented on the alleged ‘hacking’, on a day with several cross attacks with the Lebanese armed group. Israel’s National Intelligence Service (Shin Bet) did report that it had managed to foil a plan by the Lebanese Shiite militia-party Hezbollah to attack a former senior Israeli security official, although the country’s authorities have not provided further details.
However, a former spokesman and advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to indicate in a message on the social network X (now deleted) that Israel was behind the incident, but Netanyahu’s office has distanced itself from his words and stressed that the person responsible for these statements, advisor Topaz Luk, has been out of office for months.
According to the Hebrew-language press, Israeli military authorities have warned communities in the north to remain alert to the possibility of escalation, but the guidelines for the civilian population have not changed. According to media reports, Netanyahu is at Defense Ministry headquarters with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior security officials to discuss the situation.
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Attacks between Hezbollah and Israel have been a regular occurrence since October 7, but have increased in recent months.
-Thailand News (TN)
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