Militant group Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding over 3,000 others. However, following Hezbollah’s retaliation warning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday braced for a response and said that the country is “ready for attack and defence in all arenas”.
Israel’s action came after the Lebanese armed group blamed accused the country of planting explosives in its pagers to underme the group’s operational capabilities.
‘Israel Would Receive Its Fair Punishment’
Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the late-afternoon detonation of the pagers – handheld devices that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages – as an “Israeli aggression”. Hezbollah said Israel would receive “its fair punishment” for the blasts.
The death toll rose from eight to 11 on Tuesday night while the number of injured are reported to be over 3,000. Hezbollah in a statement confirmed that the deaths included at least two of its fighters and a young girl.
Pager Attacks In Lebanon
According to the reports, the pagers exploded in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa Valley – all Hezbollah strongholds.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was the “biggest security breach” for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
Israel Planted Explosives in Pagers, Suggests Report
Israel’s Mossad spy agency hid nearly three grams of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by the Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation.
The pagers, ordered by Hezbollah from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, were tampered with before arriving in Lebanon, Reuters reported, citing officials. In addition to this, the report also suggested that Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside the Taiwan-made pagers five months before Tuesday’s detonations.
World Reacts
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is waging war with Israel in Gaza, said the pager blasts were an “escalation” that will only lead Israel to “failure and defeat”.
UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert deplored the attack in a statement and said it “marked an extremely concerning escalation” in the conflict.
Washington said it was not involved in the explosions and did not know who was responsible. The US renewed calls for a diplomatic solution to tensions between Israel and Lebanon.
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