Israel has for the first time confirmed that it was behind the operation in September to detonate hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet: “The beeper operation and the elimination of (Hezbollah’s leader Hassan) Nasrallah were launched despite the opposition of senior officials in the security establishment and the political echelon in charge of them.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he okayed a deadly September attack on Hezbollah communications devices which exploded in Lebanon, the first time Israel has admitted involvement.
Hezbollah had previously blamed its arch-foe for the blasts that dealt a major blow to the Iran-backed militant group and vowed revenge.
“Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon,” his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks.
On September 17, thousands of explosions struck Hezbollah members, targeting their pagers and then walkie-talkies a day later. The blasts killed at least 37 people, including some children, and injured nearly 3,000, many of them civilian bystanders, according to Lebanese health authorities, many of them civilian bystanders.
The day after pagers began exploding across Lebanon, Gallant acknowledged his country’s role.
Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets, and at funerals in mid-September.
Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its ally’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the Gaza war.
Strikes have intensified since war broke out in Lebanon in late September when Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah and later sent ground troops into south Lebanon.
