General News
Israel reportedly fast-tracked its explosion of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah fighters because the mass sabotage operation was about to be exposed.
It was a “use it or lose it moment,” a US official told Axios describing the reason Israel gave for the timing of the attack, which killed at least 11 and injured almost 3,000.
Two ounces of explosives were believed to have been hidden in 5,000 pagers next to a battery along with a switch to remotely trigger the device, US sources told The New York Times.
A former Israel official with knowledge of the operation said the booby-trapped pagers were intended to be used as a surprise opening move in an all-out war with the Iran-backed militia group.
However, in recent days Israeli leaders and its intelligence agencies became concerned Hezbollah had discovered the plot, according to a US official, and decided to pull the trigger on Tuesday.
Washington has claimed it was not given prior warning. “We were not aware of this operation and were not involved,” Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the state department said on Tuesday.
Hezbollah, which described the attack as its “biggest security breach yet”, has warned Israel they should expect retaliation for “its massacre”. Israel has not yet claimed responsibility nor commented on the pager explosions.
9:59AM
Watch: Israel carries out airstrikes in Lebanon
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed carrying out airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Selm on Tuesday.
It claimed to have killed several militants in the strikes.
Overnight, fighter jets also struck buildings allegedly used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Odaisseh, Markaba, Blida, Maroun al-Ras, and Chihine.
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike yesterday evening in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Selm, targeting a building where several Hezbollah operatives were identified.
Overnight, fighter jets also struck buildings used by the terror group in southern Lebanon’s Odaisseh,… pic.twitter.com/qNSayix9hf
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 18, 2024
9:49AM
Russia: Pager explosion ‘requires investigation’
The mass detonation of pagers in Lebanon “requires an investigation and international attention” to the topic, Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman said in a post on Telegram.
9:32AM
Inside Israel’s history of inventive assassination methods
Israel has a long history of inventive, unusual assassination methods, and reports that at least nine people have been killed by exploding pagers could be its latest grim chapter, writes James Rothwell.
As of Tuesday night, Israel had not claimed responsibility for the attack – but it bears many of the hallmarks of its special forces units, such as Mossad.
Formed in 1949, the year after the birth of the state of Israel, Mossad has been linked to many of Israel’s most daring killings.
Over seven decades, it is thought to have relied on exploding books, remote-controlled machine guns and even poisoned toothpaste to reach its targets, with mixed results.
Read the full story here.
At least 200 are said to be in critical condition following the pager blasts
9:22AM
Scale of the mass attack
9:13AM
Iran accuses Israel of ‘mass murder’
Iran accused Israel on Wednesday of “mass murder” after paging devices belonging to the Tehran-aligned Hezbollah group in Lebanon exploded, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others.
Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said in a statement he “condemned the terrorist act of the Zionist regime… as an example of mass murder”.
A pager exploded in this man’s pocket as he rid through Beirut on his motorbike
Telegram
People gather outside a hospital in Beirut following the simultaneous detonation of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah
Reuters
8:54AM
Airlines suspend flights as Middle East tensions rise
- Ryanair cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until Oct 26, citing ‘operational restrictions’
- Air France said it was suspending services to Beirut and Tel Aviv up to and including Sept 19
- KLM cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Oct 26
- EasyJet stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on March 30, 2025
- Air India suspended scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice
- Cathay Pacific cancelled all flights to Tel Aviv until March 27, 2025
- Delta Air Lines paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through Oct 31
- Lufthansa said it was suspending all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and on Sept 19
- United Airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future due to security reasons
8:41AM
Hezbollah thought older devices would keep them safe
Hezbollah’s pagers were meant to be safety measures, secure from Israeli eavesdropping, writes Roland Oliphant.
Instead, they were a deadly Trojan horse.
After suffering a series of assassinations of top operatives during months of low-level war with Israel, this summer Hezbollah ordered its fighters to ditch their mobile phones. They were too easy to track and too readily compromised by Israel’s fearsome military hackers.
“If you’re looking for an Israeli agent, look at the phone in your hand,” Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s chief, warned his men.
Read more: Hezbollah’s terrible blunder that ended with audacious pager attack
8:03AM
Hezbollah’s exploding pagers ‘made in Hungary’
Thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah that exploded across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday were reportedly manufactured in Hungary.
At least 11 people were killed and some 2,800 injured by a simultaneous detonation that the Lebanese militant group immediately blamed on Israel.
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, whose branding was seen on the affected pages, has denied the devices belonged to them, instead claiming they were made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT.
BAC were authorised to use Gold Apollo’s trademark in some regions, Hsu Ching-Kuang, founder of the company said on Wednesday. “That product isn’t ours. They just stick on our company brand”.
Hsu Ching-kuang head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to the media in Taipei on Sep 18
AFP
7:38AM
Hezbollah vows to avenge pager attack
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said Wednesday it “will continue, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza”, after a deadly wave of exploding pagers the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.
“This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday,” the group said in a statement issued on Telegram.
7:14AM
Hezbollah chief to give speech on Thursday
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will give a speech on Thursday, the group said in a statement on Wednesday, following pager detonations.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address in August to mark the killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr
Reuters
7:03AM
UN to demand Israel end ‘unlawful’ presence in Palestinian territories
The UN General Assembly will on Wednesday adopt a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.
The action will isolate Israel days before world leaders travel to New York for their annual UN gathering.
The draft resolution aims to welcome a July advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements is illegal and should be withdrawn.
6:39AM
Hezbollah vows to continue ‘operations to support Gaza’
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday it “will continue, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza”, following the pager attack.
“This path is ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre on Tuesday,” the group said in a statement on Telegram.
6:34AM
Four soldiers killed in southern Gaza
Four soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.
A female paramedic was among those killed, the military said, adding that six soldiers were also wounded, three of them critically.
The latest fatalities bring the military’s losses in the Gaza war to 348 since the start of the ground offensive.
6:22AM
Pager blasts detected in several Lebanon and Syria locations
5:51AM
Blinken to discuss Gaza ceasefire in Egypt
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hopes to advance efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza as well as strengthen bilateral ties with Cairo when he visits Egypt on Wednesday.
Speaking at a regular briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said it was too early to say whether the incident in Lebanon would affect Gaza ceasefire talks, but the US believed diplomacy was the way to reduce tensions.
In Mr Blinken’s meetings with Egyptian officials, “squarely on the agenda is how we get a proposal that we think would secure agreement from both parties” to an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Mr Miller said.
“There are some issues that we need to engage with the government of Egypt on as it relates to this ceasefire proposal that we are trying to bring to fruition,” he said.
Mr Blinken waves as he departs for Egypt at Joint Base Andrews
AFP
5:13AM
Gold Apollo denies making pagers used in attack
Taiwan’s Gold Apollo has denied reports that it made the pagers that were used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday.
Images of destroyed pagers showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo.
But the company’s founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, told reporters on Wednesday that the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taiwanese firm’s brand.
“The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” he said.
Mr Hsu did not name the company which he said manufactured the pagers, adding Gold Apollo was also a victim of the incident.
“We are a responsible company. This is very embarrassing.”
5:07AM
Sources: Israel planted explosives in pagers
Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, sources say.
The plot appears to have been many months in the making, several sources told Reuters.
Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking.
But a senior Lebanese source said the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy service “at the production level”.
“The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It’s very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner,” the source said.
5:03AM
Welcome to our live coverage
We are bringing you the latest out of the Middle East, where Hezbollah has accused Israel of being behind a wave of exploding pagers that killed at least nine and injured thousands.
