Tag: lebanon

CNN shares details of ‘sophisticated’ pager attacks against Hezbollah

The alleged Israeli plot to target senior members of Hezbollah through their pagers relied on explosives hidden in the devices’ batteries in a way that was nearly impossible to detect, CNN reported Friday, citing sources.

Earlier this month, a series of powerful pager explosions swept through the Middle East, killing 12 people and injuring around 3,000. The victims included numerous officials of the Lebanese-based Islamist movement. The attack was followed a day later by portable radio explosions that killed at least 20 others. Iran and Lebanon accused Israel of orchestrating the attack, a charge denied by West Jerusalem.

An unnamed Lebanese official familiar with the investigation told CNN that the explosives in the pagers were hidden inside the device in a way “so sophisticated that it could not be detected.”

Another official told the network that the materials were “laced” into the pager’s lithium battery and were virtually undetectable, adding that he had “never seen anything like it.” Lebanese officials also witnessed controlled explosions of the pagers and observed how devastating they must have been to their owners, according to the article.

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Israel’s new war front in Lebanon has no clear off-ramp

There has recently been an alarming escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. On 23 September, Lebanon experienced its deadliest day since the end of its civil war (1975-90), with more than 560 people killed and another 1,800 injured in a single day by Israeli airstrikes in the country’s south and east.

Hezbollah maintains that it will continue fighting Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli strikes against Lebanon continuing at this level of intensity will soon constitute a full-scale war.

This scenario would inevitably devastate Lebanon, with Hezbollah’s missiles and drones striking cities and many other targets across Israel. Such a conflict would add new layers of chaotic instability to the Middle East.

The nearly one-year-old Israel-Hezbollah conflict entered a new and dangerous phase with the explosion of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies in Beirut, elsewhere in Lebanon, and Syria on 17 and 18 September.

Israel did not officially claim responsibility for this operation but was undoubtedly behind it. The explosions resulted in dozens of deaths and thousands of injuries of Hezbollah members and civilians, including two children.

Days later, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a high-rise building in the Dahiyeh district south of Beirut, killing 31 people, including senior Hezbollah officials Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Mahmoud Wahbi.

Hezbollah responded by attacking northern Israel with dozens of rockets.

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REPORT: Israel To Establish ‘Security Zone’ At The Expense Of Lebanese Territory

Israeli journalists are famously tied into the security state when it comes to the information narrative. Tamir Morag is from Channel 14 and considered a ‘right wing’ journalist that clashes with the Israeli government at times, but he put this out on X yesterday.

Israel is considering re-establishing the security zone in southern Lebanon. If this happens, Hezbollah, which has caused the evacuation of a significant area within Israel’s territory for the past year, will see Lebanon pay for it by losing its sovereign territory. This will be the result of the actions of Nasrallah, the man who prides himself on the title “Protector of Lebanon.”

A source close to the Prime Minister tells us: “There will be no resolution in the north without a security zone inside Lebanon where the IDF is present. Without this, residents simply will not return. The establishment of the zone will be carried out in one of two ways: a political settlement, and if Hezbollah does not agree, a ground maneuver and seizure of the area.”

The source also adds that Israel will not be satisfied with the current terms of Resolution 1701 and will demand certain improvements: “We will not be content with pushing Hezbollah beyond the Litani River. In some areas, such as Metula, the river’s course is very close to the border, and additional solutions will be required there. The residents will not return because we tell them to; they will return only when they feel truly safe.”

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The War Must Go On: U.S. Sends Troops To Israel Amid Attacks On Lebanon

The United States has sent more troops to Israel amid fresh attacks on Lebanon. The Israeli Defense Forces say that the U.S. has deployed a “small number” of troops after Israel bombarded Lebanon with a “large-scale military operation.”

”In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces already in the region,” Spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said. “But for operational security reasons, I’m not going to comment on or provide specifics.”

According to a report by RT, the U.S. currently has around 40,000 troops stationed in the Middle East, along with several Navy warships and aircraft carriers, including the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Abraham Lincoln. The military assets are positioned in multiple locations to respond to potential attacks against Israel or American interests.

And it looks like the U.S. is going to help Israel ramp up this war, as they begin an incursion into Lebanon while still trying to end Hamas in Palestine.

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US is sending more troops to the Middle East as violence rises between Israel and Hezbollah

The U.S. is sending additional troops to the Middle East in response to a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon that has raised the risk of a greater regional war, the Pentagon said Monday.

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The U.S. currently has about 40,000 troops in the region.

“In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region. But for operational security reasons, I’m not going to comment on or provide specifics.”

The new deployments come after significant strikes by Israeli forces against targets inside Lebanon that have killed hundreds and as Israel is preparing to conduct further operations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned Lebanese civilians in a videotaped message to evacuate their homes ahead of further airstrikes. He spoke as Israeli warplanes continued to strike alleged Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The State Department is warning Americans to leave Lebanon as the risk of a regional war increases.

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Israel Has No Connection to Mass Pager Attack in Lebanon, President Says

The Israeli government had “no connection” to widespread pager attacks that left dozens of people dead and thousands injured in Lebanon, the Israeli president said in a Sunday interview.

In an interview with Sky News, Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied claims made by Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist group that Israel was behind the widespread attacks carried out via exploding pagers and walkie-talkies that left dozens dead and thousands injured.

“First of all, I reject out of hand any connection to this or that source of operation,” Herzog responded to a reporter’s question about whether Israel was involved.

Two waves of explosions erupted across Lebanon last week, reportedly targeting members of Hezbollah, which runs Lebanon’s government.

In the first attack, which primarily impacted pagers, some 12 people died and thousands were injured, officials said. In the second, 25 people died and 600 were injured.

During his Sky News interview, Herzog sought to focus on actions that were carried out by Hezbollah earlier this summer. The group is accused of launching a rocket at a civilian area in the Golan Heights, leaving 12 children dead, which prompted separate counter-strikes against Hezbollah inside Lebanon.

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On War Crimes and Western Hypocrisy

The death toll has risen to 12 from Israel’s terror attack in Lebanon on Tuesday which detonated explosive materials hidden in thousands of pagers. Another 20 people were then killed in another attack on Wednesday with a second wave of explosions, this time using walkie talkies and home solar energy systems.

The total death toll now sits at 32. Two children and four healthcare workers are among the dead. Thousands have been injured.

As you would expect, western empire managers are getting really squirmy about this. White House spokesman John Kirby adamantly refused to answer any questions involving Israel’s responsibility for the attacks during a press conference on Wednesday, despite Israel being widely reported as the responsible party, with outlets like The New York Times citing US officials as their source.

“I’m not gonna speak to the details of these incidents,” Kirby said repeatedly when questioned about Israel’s role and what the US response will be.

It goes without saying that if a government like Russia, China or Iran were even suspected of being responsible for similar attacks, Kirby and his fellow podium people would be not just naming the suspected aggressor but fervently denouncing the attack as an act of terrorism.

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Exploding pagers and radios: A terrifying violation of international law, say UN experts

UN human rights experts* today condemned the malicious manipulation of thousands of electronic pagers and radios to explode simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria as “terrifying” violations of international law.

The attacks reportedly killed at least 32 people and maimed or injured 3,250, including 200 critically. Among the dead are a boy and a girl, as well as medical personnel. Around 500 people suffered severe eye injuries, including a diplomat. Others suffered grave injuries to their faces, hands and bodies.

“These attacks violate the human right to life, absent any indication that the victims posed an imminent lethal threat to anyone else at the time,” the experts said. “Such attacks require prompt, independent investigation to establish the truth and enable accountability for the crime of murder.

“We express our deepest solidarity to the victims of these attacks,” they said.

The pagers and radios were reportedly distributed mainly among people allegedly associated with the Hezbollah movement, which includes civilian and military personnel and is involved in an armed conflict with Israel along the border.

“To the extent that international humanitarian law applies, at the time of the attacks there was no way of knowing who possessed each device and who was nearby,” the experts said. “Simultaneous attacks by thousands of devices would inevitably violate humanitarian law, by failing to verify each target, and distinguish between protected civilians and those who could potentially be attacked for taking a direct part in hostilities.

“Such attacks could constitute war crimes of murder, attacking civilians, and launching indiscriminate attacks, in addition to violating the right to life,” the experts said.

Humanitarian law additionally prohibits the use of booby-traps disguised as apparently harmless portable objects where specifically designed and constructed with explosives – and this could include a modified civilian pager, the experts said. A booby-trap is a device designed to kill or injure, that functions unexpectedly when a person performs an apparently safe act, such as answering a pager.

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Home Solar Systems Explode in Beirut, Lebanon Following Walkie-Talkie and Pager Blasts, Officials Say

Lebanon officials are now reporting that multiple home solar energy systems have reportedly exploded in various neighborhoods across Beirut.

This attack follows closely on the heels of Tuesday’s pager blasts, which claimed the lives of 12 and left nearly 4,000 wounded in what is rapidly becoming an unparalleled security nightmare for the terrorist organization.

On Wednesday, walkie-talkies exploded simultaneously at various Hezbollah-controlled locations across the country.

Now, reports emerged from Lebanon’s Official News Agency detailing how home solar systems—often touted as the solution to climate change—were also going up in flames.

Al Jazeera reported, “Several blasts took place simultaneously, Hashem said, similar to what happened on Tuesday. “But this time, it was mostly walkie-talkies or radios [that exploded],” he said, adding that reports suggested that solar devices and some batteries in cars also exploded. Lebanon’s official news agency reported that home solar energy systems exploded in several areas of Beirut.”

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Hezbollah vows ‘reckoning’ with Israel

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after a wave of pager explosions killed several members of the Lebanon-based Islamist group and left thousands of others injured on Tuesday.

At least 11 people were killed and around 3,000 injured when pagers – which Hezbollah relies on to make messages harder to intercept – started exploding across Lebanon and Syria. Among the wounded was Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, as well as a number of top Hezbollah officials.

While media reports have suggested the explosions were orchestrated by Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, West Jerusalem has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it holds “the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.” It also pledged to continue its military operations against Israel in support of Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza despite the pager blasts.

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