Hezbollah threatens “just punishment” after pager attacks kill nine

BEIRUT: Following the pager blasts in Hezbollah strongholds that claimed nine lives and wounded nearly 3000 this Tuesday, Hezbollah vowed to retaliate in a statement this Wednesday.

At least two of Hezbollah’s fighters were killed from the blast, leading them to threaten a “just punishment” after Lebanese information minister, Ziad Makary, defined the attacks as an “Israeli aggression.” The attack was described as the “biggest security breach” for the group by an anonymous Hezbollah official.

The attacks are believed to be in response to an attempted assassination of a former senior Israeli security official by a remotely detonated explosive device, as claimed by Israel’s internal security agency.

Gold Apollo says it did not make pagers used in Lebanon explosion

Hezbollah switched to using pagers in recent months in an effort to avoid Israeli tracking of their locations. Explosives were hidden in the Gold Apollo pagers next to the battery. They were configured to be triggered remotely to detonate. Two Hezbollah fighters were also injured in Syria, where blasts occurred simultaneously.

EXPLOSIVES PLANTED IN 5000 PAGERS

Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.

The operation was an unprecedented Hezbollah security breach that saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, including the group’s fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.

The Israeli military held a situational assessment after the attacks focusing on readiness in both offence and defence,” while The Israel Defence Forces’ told authorities that an escalation was possible following the incident.

STILL GATHERING INFORMATION, SAYS US

Matthew Miller, a United States Department spokesperson stated that they are still “gathering information” and that it was “too early to say” the effect the attacks would have on ceasefire negotiations. The United States has claimed that they were not involved and were “not aware of this incident in advance.”

The Lebanese armed group also announced the deaths of 12 fighters on their Telegram channel, however, it was not stated whether these were the results of the pager explosions. Currently, Lebanese health officials claim nine people were killed in the attacks including an eight-year-old girl.