This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Reports began to emerge Tuesday afternoon local time of an alleged event, which seems drawn directly from the pages of a spy novel, or the screen of an action movie, in which – according to earliest estimates – possibly up to 1,800 Hezbollah operatives throughout Lebanon – and potentially also in Damascus – were wounded when their pagers simultaneously exploded.
It is difficult to ascertain precise facts as rumors continue to swirl around the internet. What does seem clear is according to reports published on Reuters, more than 1,000 pagers exploded, with some Hezbollah operatives claiming they felt the devices warming up before they exploded. Footage of the explosions seems to show a mass communication sent to the pagers, as the recipients – except for those who noticed the warming and tossed the devices away – looked down to inspect them in the belief they'd received a message.
According to Iran's Mehr News Agency, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was one of those wounded in the synchronized explosions. As a result of the attack, which has immediately been blamed on Israel, but for which it has not taken responsibility, Hezbollah terrorists have been ordered to discard their pagers – which were brand new models and were only received in the last few months.
One of the ironies of this attack is that the Iranian proxy group began using pagers and couriers as they were viewed as more secure, less traceable than cell phones, and presumably less likely to be hacked by Israel. Or so the thinking went. Unconfirmed reports allege Hezbollah's wired and wireless communication network was also taken out, leaving it blind – much like Israel was on Oct. 7.
Reports on Twitter suggest sirens can still be heard all across Beirut, amid a constant stream of ambulances arriving at the city's American University Hospital.
This incident occurred on the day it was revealed the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) foiled an alleged Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former top Israeli security official, by killing him with a remotely detonated bomb. There is no suggestion yet that the exploding pagers are retaliation for this scheme, for one, it would appear an alleged Israeli operation of this magnitude would need to have been in the pipeline for some time.
The Times of Israel reports: "Lebanon's health ministry denies the widespread reports that the death toll in the country from the Hezbollah pager explosions has risen to 11 and some 4,000 have been injured, lowering the tallies to those that were previously given by the ministry.
"The confirmed death toll is thus 9, and the tally of injured is 2,750."
