Hezbollah Begins First Cross-Border Attacks Since Pager Blasts; EU Condemns ‘Indiscriminate’ Israeli Op

Hezbollah is vowing retaliation against Israel, which it holds “fully responsible” for the pager explosion attacks that left at least 300 people in critical condition. The death toll has risen to 12, with two among these children who were in the vicinity of exploding pagers. Some blasts went off inside homes. The Lebanese government is concerned about ‘all-out war’ breaking out with Israel.

After about 4pm Beirut time on Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that it has begun its first cross-border attacks on Israeli military border posts since the pager explosions. This could be the beginning of major retaliatory operations which slide into a third Lebanese war.

At least 2,750 people total were injured in the Tuesday pager attacks, including some civilians, while some reports dubiously claimed as many as 4,000 were wounded when on Tuesday pager devices widely used by the Lebanese paramilitary group blew up after apparently being triggered by an external signal sent by Israeli intelligence.

via India Today/AP

It is being widely assumed that most of the dead and injured are Hezbollah operatives who rely on low-tech telecoms to evade Israeli intelligence from sweeping up cell communications.

The Lebanese health ministry in fresh Wednesday statements put the actual number of wounded between 2,750 and 2,800. The number in critical condition has been revised upward to at least 300 – many of these in intensive care. The wounded are being treated across one hundred hospitals.

Lebanon’s Minister of Health Firass Abiad has in a press conference identified that among the dozen killed were four medical staff, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. 

In a press briefing in Beirut, Abiad also weighed on the conflicts in Gaza and in southern Lebanon, accusing Israel of “steering away from a diplomatic solution.” He added: “We have to be ready and alert.”

Initial Reports of a Direct Impact from a Hezbollah Rocket on the Town of Ein Ya’akov in Northwestern Israel. pic.twitter.com/Q5iwXLw727

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 18, 2024

This has prompted EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to condemn the “indiscriminate” nature of the covert operation. “Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims.” Borrell said.

“I consider this situation extremely worrying. I can only condemn these attacks that endanger the security and stability of Lebanon, and increase the risk of escalation in the region,” while also warning of all-out war which would have “heavy consequences for the entire region and beyond.” The United Nations is also calling for accountability for the pager blasts.

🇱🇧 The U.S. State Dept says the U.S. was not involved in the pager explosions in Lebanon and was not aware of the incident beforehand.

In unrelated news, the American University of Beirut Medical Center replaced the pagers of their doctors and staff 2 weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/G5wwQ4tBlj

— Expat Vibes (@expatvibes) September 17, 2024

Meanwhile, there’s been several reports, including in the NY Times, which purport to have uncovered details of precisely how the pager attacks happened:

According to officials briefed on the matter who spoke with the New York Times, the thousands of encrypted pagers which exploded in Lebanon, resulting in hundreds of Hezbollah members killed or critically injured, were Imported into Lebanon by the Taiwanese-Based Pager Company, Gold Apollo… with the pagers having been boobytrapped by Israeli agents before reaching Lebanon, where roughly 1-2 ounces of explosive material was placed next to the device battery, alongside a trigger to allow remote detonation.

At 3:30PM earlier Tuesday, the Pagers received a Message that appeared to be coming from senior Hezbollah leadership, which then activated the explosive within the device, with the pagers being programmed to “beep” several times before exploding.

And some further interesting reports…

High level intel sources tell @gsdebinski and Tyler Huffman:
– TWO Hezbollah members found out about Israel’s hack, one was “neutralized”

– Decision to detonate pagers early took place before 2nd alerted superiors

Wild details as attack brings Israel-Lebanon to brink of war

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) September 17, 2024

Hezbollah on Wednesday has said it will continue “operations to support Gaza, its people, and its resistance.”

What exactly did this absurd pager attack achieve? It’s sort of a Rube Goldberg scheme to blow off testicles of low rank foot soldiers and/or civilians going about their daily lives. How is this a military achievement?

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) September 18, 2024

Many regional analysts say that the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah doesn’t want to see all of Lebanon dragged into a major war, but at this point anything is possible. For nearly a year there have been daily tit-for-tat exchanges of fire, but Israeli media has said that PM Netanyahu’s willingness to go into Lebanon to seek to eradicated Hezbollah has grown.