Israeli pager attack reignites fears of regional war
At least 12 people have been killed and nearly 3,000 wounded in Lebanon following an Israeli attack on 17 September targeting Hezbollah that caused thousands of pagers used by members of the group to explode simultaneously across the country. The attack has intensified months-long concerns about further escalation toward a broader regional war.
At least three additional people have been killed and over 100 wounded in Lebanon following a fresh round of explosions linked to electronic devices on 18 September.
Hospitals in Lebanon were overwhelmed by the number of victims from the initial attack, and Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate. Two of those killed were children, and many of the wounded suffered serious injuries to their hands, faces, or stomachs, including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, who lost an eye.
Israel has not commented on the attack, but Hezbollah and Iran – which backs the Lebanese political party and militant group – placed the blame on Israel. The US has also confirmed that Israel was behind the attack.
“Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law,” UN rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement.
Israel reportedly implanted explosives into an order of pagers imported to Lebanon earlier this year from Hungary that Hezbollah distributed to its members. The explosives were remotely detonated at around 3:30pm on the 17th. Hezbollah uses the devices to communicate due to concerns about Israeli surveillance of cell phones.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging cross-border attacks since 8 October last year, when Hezbollah began striking northern Lebanon to divert Israeli military attention away from the Gaza Strip as Israel began to bombard the enclave in response to Hamas’ 7 October attacks.
The cross-border exchanges have threatened on multiple occasions to escalate into regional war that could potentially pull in Iran and Iranian-backed groups in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria.
The region spent weeks teetering on the brink when Israel killed a senior Hezbollah military commander in Beirut at the end of July and Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran the following day. Israel did not claim responsibility for Haniyeh’s assassination but is widely believed to be responsible.
Hezbollah has said it will stop its cross-border strikes on Israel if there is a ceasefire deal in Gaza – something that appears to be an increasingly remote possibility, especially after the pager attack in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused by many – including political opponents in Israel, family members of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and Israeli defence officials – of prioritising his personal political interests over a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Prior to the pager attack, some senior Israeli military officers were reportedly pushing the Israeli government to launch a full-scale ground incursion into southern Lebanon to create a buffer zone along the border.
For more of our reporting on Lebanon, where civilians – including Syrian refugees – are already suffering the fallout of nearly a year of lower-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on top of years of crisis, visit our coverage page here.
