Did Israel hastily execute pager blasts in Lebanon? A new theory suggests so. It is believed that Hezbollah suspected something was up with the pagers. Thus, Israel found no alternative and carried out the pager explosions.
Reports indicate that simultaneous pager explosions occurred around Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday. Hezbollah fighters used these pagers for communication. So far, nine have died in these blasts, while injuries are claimed to be around 3000.
It's believed that Israel and its intelligence agency Mossad were behind these blasts. Israel has not commented on this yet.
The blasts occurred during a period of escalating tension between Israel and Hezbollah. A US official stated that Israel had two options: either attack or withdraw, and it chose to attack.
What's the backstory?
American officials informed news website Axios that Hezbollah fighters had gotten wind of Israel's plan, leading to swift execution of the pager attacks.
Israel feared Hezbollah might discover the explosive-laden pagers. An American official explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his ministers and intelligence officials, decided to carry out the pager attack without taking any risks.
It was revealed that, in recent days, two Hezbollah fighters had expressed suspicion about the pagers, fearing that Israel might take action.
Source: aajtak
Read more: How did the pager become a bomb? Did Mossad fit a chip bomb? What is the link with the Taiwanese company? All questions answered here.
What did America know?
According to Axios, US President Joe Biden's advisor Amos Hochstein visited Israel on Monday. He had hours-long discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and other senior officials.
A US official indicated that Israel did not hint at any plan involving Lebanon during those discussions.
Shortly before the pager attack in Lebanon on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Galant spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, informing him that Israel would soon conduct an operation in Lebanon. However, he did not provide further details.
The US official stated that Israel did not share the operation's specifics with the US. Galant made the call to ensure the US was not entirely kept in the dark.
After the operation, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed that the US had no information about the operation and was not involved.
Read more: What is PETN? The explosive used in thousands of pagers, a major blow to Hezbollah by Mossad.
Source: aajtak
How was the pager attack carried out?
At around 3:30 PM local time on Tuesday, several locations across Lebanon experienced pager attacks. Reports suggest that a beeping sound was heard from the pagers, and within seconds they exploded.
It is said that PETN, a dangerous explosive, was fitted inside these pagers. The explosive was placed next to the pager’s battery, causing it to explode by heating the battery.
Hezbollah had only started using these pagers a few months ago because they are difficult to track.
