Israeli President denies involvement in Hezbollah pager explosions in Lebanon
Photo: Israeli President Isaac Herzog (facebook.com/IsaacHerzog)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in an interview with Sky News, has denied his country’s involvement in the mass explosion of pagers and radios used by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. This is the first official comment from an Israeli government representative.
Specifically, he was asked whether Israel was responsible for the mass explosions of pagers and radios in Lebanon. In response, he "rejects out of hand any connection to this or that source of operations” but provided no additional evidence.
Herzog emphasized that Hezbollah has many enemies and is suffocating Lebanon by repeatedly creating chaos in the country. He stated that Israel is solely defending itself and made it clear that action must be taken, as any normal country would, to protect its people. He reiterated that Israel does not seek war with Lebanon.
As Sky News reports, Herzog’s denial goes beyond the official response from the Israeli government, which has so far remained silent about the attack. It also highlights that the pager explosions occurred around the time Israel announced the beginning of a new phase in the north of the country, followed by several powerful strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that over the past few days, the Israeli Defense Forces have carried out a number of strikes that Hezbollah "couldn't have imagined."
He said that if Hezbollah had not yet received the signal, they soon would, and added that Israel is determined to return the evacuated residents of the northern areas to their homes.
The mass pager explosion
On September 17, a series of explosions occurred in Lebanon, and later it was reported that the pagers used by Hezbollah militants had detonated. The next day, radios began exploding en masse.
It was reported that at least 37 people were killed, and around 3,000 were injured. More details about the explosions in Lebanon and their aftermath are available in a separate report from RBC-Ukraine.
According to ABC, the operation had been in preparation for 15 years. Reuters reported that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was behind the attack. Prior to this, Hezbollah militants had ordered about 5,000 pagers from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. It is likely that explosive devices were installed inside the pagers, which were activated upon receiving a specific code.
Earlier, it was reported that US officials were concerned about the threat of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah. More attacks on targets in Lebanon are expected, and in response, the militants could launch rockets and drones.
