It was a chaotic and deadly day in Lebanon, as pagers used by Hezbollah fighters suddenly exploded across the country, leaving hundreds, possibly thousands, wounded and at least three people dead. While Hezbollah and Lebanese officials scramble to figure out what happened, speculation is swirling that the explosions were the result of an Israeli intelligence operation—a major breach for the Iran-backed terrorist organization.
This whole mess stems from Hezbollah’s decision to revert to outdated pagers for communication, supposedly to avoid Israeli cyberattacks on smartphones. But these old-school devices are far from secure, and the possibility that Israeli forces hacked them to trigger simultaneous detonations is very much on the table. If true, it’s not just a blow to Hezbollah’s operational capabilities but a clear sign that Israel continues to stay several steps ahead in the intelligence game.
The casualties include two Hezbollah fighters, one of whom was the son of a Lebanese MP and, tragically, a 10-year-old girl. The carnage also reached the Iranian ambassador, who was injured in the blast. Amid the chaos, Hezbollah is keeping things vague, talking about a “security and scientific probe,” while military sources and the media speculate that Israel is behind the attack. After all, Israel and Hezbollah have been trading blows for months since the Hamas-led attack on Israel ignited a war in Gaza.
Another video of a Hezbollah operative wounded as his pager exploded while shopping pic.twitter.com/karIpOALhl
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 17, 2024
“Pagers belonging to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions exploded,” an official statement from the Iran-backed militant group said, continuing to say that the blasts “killed a girl and two of our brothers.”
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This is a developing story, and all information is preliminary, with numbers and info subject to change.
Roughly an hour ago, Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus.
Initial reports from Lebanon… pic.twitter.com/pWpDePcFUv
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 17, 2024
But let’s not forget who Hezbollah really is: a terrorist group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and responsible for a long history of violence, including suicide bombings against U.S. and French troops in Beirut in 1983. Hezbollah may fancy itself a resistance group, but its record of attacks on Western embassies, kidnappings, and bombings—like the ones in Argentina in the ‘90s—tells the real story.
As Hezbollah scrambles to explain how such a massive breach of their communications happened, the bigger question remains: how long will Lebanon remain hostage to this terrorist organization’s deadly games?
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.
