An unprecedented operation has shaken the Lebanon , Syria yesterday Tuesday 17 September: hundreds di pager used by Hezbollah, the radical Lebanese group backed by Iran, are exploded simultaneously. The attack caused the death of at least 20 people and ferito about 4.000 individuals, including about 500 Hezbollah members who lost their eyesight and some of the group's allies in Syria. Not even the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was spared, Mojtaba Amani, who lost one eye and suffered serious injuries to the other.
Pager Explosions: How the Hezbollah Attack Happened
The explosions occurred in Beirut, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon, all areas firmly controlled by Hezbollah. The pagers involved, provided by Taiwanese Gold Apollo and mainly of the AR924 model, had been widely distributed after October 7, when Hezbollah had denounced the tracking of its cellular network by Israeli intelligence services, thus compromising the secrecy of their movements. These pagers had probably been tampered with to contain small explosive charges, inserted before sale and activated remotely via a message. The devices emitted a beep for about 10 seconds before exploding, blinding many of their owners. Gold Apollo said it did not directly produce the incriminated pagers, but had only granted the manufacturing rights to a European company, without revealing the name of the company.
Why now?
According to American sources, Israel decided to speed up the detonation of the pagers to prevent Hezbollah from discovering the operation. The United States said the attack, initially planned as part of a broader strategy to paralyze the militants, was premature for prevent the discovery of tampered devices. Israel informed the United States of the operation only after its completion. Hezbollah immediately accused Israel of genocide and vowed revenge for what it called a “flagrant aggression.”
Convictions and consequences
The spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Canaan, condemned the attack as a grave threat to regional peace and security, calling for urgent international action. In response, Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is expected for a speech tomorrow at 17pm Lebanese time (16pm Italian time), where it is expected to provide details on the accusations against Israel and the group's future responses.
This attack represents a further escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been going on for 11 months and began with the launch of missiles by the pro-Iranian group in solidarity with Hamas. With the wounding of the Iranian ambassador, the situation in the Middle East risks worsening further, potentially involving Iran too.
Rising tensions have led to precautionary measures in the transport sector. company air Air France e British Airways have suspended flights to Israel until tomorrow for security reasons, following the example of the Lufthansa, who had already made a similar decision.
