Netanyahu approved pager operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon: Reports
On September 17, pagers started detonating in Lebanon and Syria sending Hezbollah into confusion. A day later, the walkie-talkies exploded in a similar way during the funeral of those who died in a pager attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that he greenlighted a deadly pager attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to reports. Netanyahu's spokesperson Omer Dostri said, "Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon."
Netanyahu's acknowledgement came almost two months after the attack. The pagers and walkie-talkies blew up across Lebanon for two consecutive days on September 17 and 18 in what may be called as an unforeseen development and unexpected warfare.
37 killed, 3,000 injured
Notably, the pagers used by Hezbollah operatives detonated on September 17 in supermarkets and streets. A day later, the walkie-talkies exploded at the funeral of those who died in a pager attack. The new blasts came while Lebanon was still thrown into confusion and anger pager bombings. The wave of two attacks led to 37 deaths while nearly 3,000 were wounded.
After the attack, the Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the blasts, however, no acknowledgement statement came from Tel-Aviv back then.
The explosion of thousands of Hezbollah's mobile communication devices had spread fear across Lebanon, leaving people terrified they might be carrying bombs in their pockets. This triggered false rumours across the country. Mustafa Jemaa said he had removed some stock from his electronics shop in the southern city of Sidon. "We had some devices here that we believed were 100% safe, but out of caution, we removed them ... because we got worried," he had said.
The pagers were made by a company based in Hungary, another firm said Wednesday. An American official said Israel briefed the United States after the attack, in which small amounts of explosives had been hidden in the pagers. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the information publicly.
(With inputs from agencies)