New escalation in the Middle East: The explosion of hundreds of remote-controlled radio devices, called pagers, injured 2,750 people and killed nine in Lebanon yesterday. The attack occurred at 3:30 p.m. local time. The death toll comes from the Lebanese Health Ministry.
1. Where exactly did the attack take place?
The blast affected several areas in Lebanon, especially the southern suburbs of Beirut. Pager explosions were also reported in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 14 people were injured.
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2. How is the victim?
From Lebanon there were reports of bloodied wounded being carried out, panic on the streets of Beirut and people afraid to use their phones. The victims mostly suffered wounds to their hands, stomachs and faces, a spokesman for Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
At least 200 people are in critical condition. The Health Ministry has urged hospitals to be on high alert and the public to donate blood. So far, the injured have been treated at about a hundred hospitals.
The attacks mainly targeted Hezbollah militia fighters. Among the dead was an eight-year-old girl from the Bekaa Valley.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Moschtaba Amani, was also injured. One of the diplomat’s bodyguards was carrying the device. According to the Indonesian Embassy, Amani only suffered minor injuries and is in good health.
3. How does this attack work technically?
The militia reportedly received the manipulated radios only a few days ago, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Hezbollah has been switching its communications from smartphones to older devices since Hamas’s attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
According to Reuters news agency, a total of 5,000 devices were tampered with. The pagers that Hezbollah ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan were tampered with before reaching Lebanon, according to US officials, the New York Times reported. According to insiders, small amounts of explosives were hidden during production.
Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang has denied allegations that his company manufactured the pagers used in the blasts. Hsu said the pagers were made by a European company that had the rights to use the Taiwanese firm’s trademark. He initially did not name the company. The company later confirmed that the devices were made by Hungary-based BAC.
Most were the company’s AP924 models, but three other Gold Apollo models were also included. According to the New York Times, these were intercepted. However, a source close to Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that the pagers had been “sabotaged at the source.”
Did Israel build a special pager company for the attack?
To equip the new pagers with explosive devices, “Israel needs access to the supply chain of these devices,” says Brussels-based military and security expert Elijah Magnier. The Israeli intelligence services apparently “infiltrated the production process, installing explosive components and remote detonation mechanisms in the pagers without raising suspicion.” A chilling suspicion: According to Magnier, the supplier of the pagers could be a company set up by the Israeli intelligence services specifically for this purpose.
The explosives, weighing only about 50 grams, were planted in each yard next to the batteries, two officials said. It is not clear how the explosives were detonated: A switch may have been installed that could be triggered remotely. A programmed ignition at a specific time is also possible.
At 3:30 p.m., a pager in Lebanon received a message that appeared to come from Hezbollah’s leadership, two officials said. Instead, the message detonated explosives.
4. Has anyone claimed responsibility for the attack?
The Israeli military has not commented on the attack, but U.S. officials say Israeli security forces planted explosives and detonated the blast.
The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have publicly blamed their neighbor for the attack. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the act “Israeli criminal aggression.” Hezbollah said:
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal attack, which resulted in the deaths of several people, affected civilians, and injured many people.”
Background: On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Hezbollah with a response to its attacks in northern Israel. There, the terrorist group used rocket fire to trigger the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis, whom Netanyahu has now promised will “return safely” to their homes. That’s why he’s considering a larger military operation against the terrorist militia, his office announced Monday.
The attack fits a long-standing pattern in Israel: in 1996, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service killed a Hamas soldier in Gaza. To this end, the highly explosive military explosive RDX was placed in a prepared mobile phone.
5. How did Hezbollah respond?
Hezbollah said:
“These criminal and treacherous enemies will surely receive their just punishment for this sinful attack, whether in expected or unexpected ways.”
Experts predict further and possibly more intense military clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in the future.
Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, notes:
“Hezbollah is stuck between all the seats. It really took a hit last year. They lost more than 450 members of the organization, their infrastructure was badly damaged – and now this.”
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said his country is now preparing for a major counterattack by Hezbollah:
“If Israel believes that this will allow them to repatriate refugees from northern Israel, they are mistaken. This escalates the war.”
6. How did the world react to this attack?
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. was not involved in any coordinated attacks in Lebanon and had no prior notification of such attacks. We are currently gathering information, he said.
The United Nations expressed deep concern over the developments. We deplore the loss of civilian lives, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. There is a risk of escalation in Lebanon. The situation is very volatile.
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Lufthansa Group airlines immediately suspended all connections to and from Tel Aviv and the Iranian capital Tehran. All Israeli and Iranian airspace will be bypassed until Thursday. Air France announced that it has suspended flights to Tel Aviv and the Lebanese capital Beirut.
7. And Germany?
So far Berlin has remained silent.
