Israel masterminded the coordinated attack that caused thousands of pagers across Lebanon to explode on Tuesday, injuring thousands in an operation targeting Hezbollah, according to The New York Times.
Some American and other officials briefed on the operation told the newspaper that the pagers had been intercepted and tampered with before reaching Lebanon.
A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from a Taiwan-based manufacturing firm called Gold Apollo. The company told reporters on Tuesday that the pagers had actually been made by a European company using the Gold Apollo brand.
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A tiny amount of explosive material and a switch were placed in each pager, two officials told the Times. The explosives went undetected by Hezbollah for months. Then, around 3:30 p.m. in Lebanon, the pagers simultaneously received a message that remotely detonated them.
The explosions killed at least nine people and injured more than 2,800 others, including at least 170 who were in critical condition late Tuesday, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Hezbollah said that a young girl and her two brothers were among the dead.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have publicly blamed Israel for the attack, with the paramilitary group vowing retaliation.
In a later statement, Hezbollah said that “after examining all the facts, available data and information about the heinous attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the martyrdom of a number of people.”
Israel has not claimed responsibility or otherwise commented on the event.
