Is the Pager Attack Only the Beginning?
22:43 GMT 17.09.2024 (Updated: 23:06 GMT 17.09.2024)
© AP Photo / Ariel Schalit
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At around 3:45 local time, thousands of handheld pagers exploded in Lebanon and parts of Syria, injuring thousands and killing more than a dozen people. The pagers were commonly used by Hezbollah fighters, but some civilians were killed, including an eight-year-old girl. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed israel, who has not commented.
“After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too,” a statement from Hezbollah reads, adding that the group will continue to support the Palestinian resistance.
CCTV footage from Lebanon showed the devices exploding in civilian areas, including a grocery store. The Lebanese Ministry of Health has urged all citizens with pagers to dispose of the devices immediately.
A #pager explodes, caught on camera while this man was shopping at a grocery store in Lebanon.
— Global Justice News English (@GlobalJSEN) September 17, 2024
Both the Lebanese government and #Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attack, which has now wounded over 3,000 and killed 9. pic.twitter.com/Lec9esze6Q
Former senior security policy analyst at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Michael Maloof, told Sputnik’s The Final Countdown that the attack seems to be a precursor to a larger attack by Israel on Lebanon.
“One of my sources said… this is the beginning of what they believe is going to be [an] attack from Israel. And we just heard yesterday that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] said that they were going to look to take on Hezbollah now,” Maloof argued.
According to Maloof, the attack was designed not only to kill and injure but also to interrupt Hezbollah’s communications, a common military tactic before a larger attack.
“The fact that they hit the communications first - that’s what you always go after anyway,” Maloof explained. “This way, it minimizes the ability [of the target] to coordinate and communicate with the elements throughout the country.”
Maloof is not alone in his speculation. Mohamad Elmasry told Al Jazeera that it could portend a large-scale invasion by Israel. “It seems to me what you want to do before a large-scale invasion is to disable or disrupt the communication network of the enemy. I do think we’ll have to pay close attention to what happens over the next few hours and potentially a couple of days."
Elmarsy also noted that Hezbollah has been increasing its use of couriers to send messages and may have to rely on that tactic more heavily in the wake of the attack.
Elmarsy also noted that Hezbollah has been increasing its use of couriers to send messages and may have to rely on that tactic more heavily in the wake of the attack.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has convened a meeting with top defense officials including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to discuss “readiness for attack and defense in all arenas.”
“I would expect if Israel is going to do anything, they would do it at this vulnerable moment,” Maloof speculated, adding that he isn’t sure how the attack will come. “Are they going to launch missiles? I haven’t heard any assessments of indications or warnings of troops massing. I think they do have some tanks near the border and troops. Does this mean there’s going to be boots on the ground? I don’t know. Israel is not communicating any of that.”
It is still unclear how the attack was pulled off. A Hezbollah official speaking anonymously told media outlets that the pagers were a new model that included lithium batteries and unnamed security sources told US media that the devices were recently acquired by the Lebanese group, but the reports did not specify a timeline.
Former NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden posted on X that it is likely explosives were planted inside the devices, rather than a hack that caused the batteries to overheat.
“As information comes in about the exploding beepers in Lebanon, it seems now more likely than not to be implanted explosives, not a hack. Why? Too many consistent, very serious injuries. If it were overheated batteries exploding, you'd expect many more small fires & misfires,” Snowden said on X.
In a later post, Snowden condemned the attack as "reckless" and "indistinguishable from terrorism."
It could still be possible that intentionally overheated batteries were used to ignite implanted explosives. One anonymous Hezbollah official reportedly told US media that some Hezbollah members noticed that their pagers were heating up and managed to dispose of them before they exploded. Alternatively, modified devices could be used to reroute electricity to an implanted explosive after being given a signal, but that should result in an instant explosion without a heat-up period.
It could still be possible that intentionally overheated batteries were used to ignite implanted explosives. One anonymous Hezbollah official reportedly told US media that some Hezbollah members noticed that their pagers were heating up and managed to dispose of them before they exploded. Alternatively, modified devices could be used to reroute electricity to an implanted explosive after being given a signal, but that should result in an instant explosion without a heat-up period.
In Iraq, improvised explosive devices used against occupation forces utilized modified cell phones that when called, could be instructed to redirect electricity to an explosive charge. That tactic has continued to be used by the IS*. Israeli media reports stated that owners of the pagers received a message shortly before the attack.
Remnants of at least some of the exploded devices appear to have been manufactured by Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based wireless company focusing on pagers. For explosives to be implanted into the device, they would have had to be intercepted and modified before entering the Hezbollah supply chain. Israel has a history of using explosives planted inside electronic devices. In 1996, Hamas member Yahya Ayyash was assassinated by Israeli intelligence forces who detonated implanted explosive materials while he was speaking on the phone.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least 2,750 people were injured and nine were killed, while an additional seven people were killed in Syria, according to Iranian media.
Israel has not officially commented on the attack. According to Israeli media, Topaz Luk, a former spokesman for Netanyahu, implied in a now-deleted social media post that the Israeli Prime Minister was behind the attack. “This didn’t age well,” Luk wrote on X in reply to a post that predicted Netanyahu would not make any moves against Lebanon before his trip to New York next week.
The office of the Prime Minister distanced itself from the comment, saying that Luk has not been the spokesman for months and “isn’t in the close circle of discussion.”
*also known as ISIS or the Islamic State, banned in Russia as a terrorist organization
