Report: Netanyahu Confirms Israel Behind Pager Attack on Hezbollah

This video grab shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east L
AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly confirmed Sunday that Israel was behind the “pager attacks” that killed or wounded thousands of Hezbollah terrorists in September and disrupted the group’s communications.

The pager event has been called the most successful targeted attack on terrorists in the history of anti-terror warfare. It caused a minimum of injury to civilians while causing major damage to Hezbollah’s infrastructure and personnel.

The Times of Israel reported:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted for the first time during Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting that Israel was behind the pager and walkie-talkie attacks on Hezbollah in September, according to quotes leaked to Hebrew media.

Thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies containing explosives detonated on their Hezbollah owners across Lebanon and parts of Syria on September 16 and 17.

Lebanon said nearly 3,000 others were wounded in the attack. The tolls did not differentiate between civilians and members of the terror group, and among the wounded was Tehran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani. A Hezbollah official told Reuters a week later that the attacks put 1,500 of the group’s fighters out of commission due to their injuries, with many having been blinded or had their hands blown off.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer declined to comment on the reports when asked in a briefing Monday.

Mencer confirmed that Netanyahu had spoken to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump three times in the past week.

He also said that Israel was expanding a humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi in Gaza, and noted the strenuous efforts Israel was undertaking to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The outgoing Biden-Harris administration has threatened to cut off weapons supplies to Israel if the humanitarian situation in Gaza does not improve by Nov. 13.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.