Mass pager explosions in Lebanon this Tuesday injured hundreds across the country, with Hezbollah blaming Israel for being behind the cyber attack.
This Tuesday afternoon, thousands of people, including members of the Hezbollah group, were wounded and dozens were killed across Lebanon when their handheld pagers exploded as a result of a possible cyber attack.
While the number of casualties is still increasing, one senior military intelligence official from Lebanon said that the explosions may have been the result of an Israeli cyber attack meant to target Hezbollah as a retaliation for the group’s missile attack on Israel late last month.
It was last month in August when Hezbollah hit nearly a dozen Israeli military facilities as well as Israel’s Iron Dome platforms with a barrage of 320 Katyusha rockets and a large number of drones. Hezbollah said the attacks, code name “the Arbaeen Operation”, were part of the “first phase” of a response to Israel’s killing of its top commander, Fuad Shukr, in a strike on Beirut on July 30.
Why did the explosions happen?
Addressing the reason why the pagers exploded, one Hezbollah official said under the condition of anonymity that the explosions were caused by an Israeli “security operation” targeting pagers carried by the Hezbollah members.
The official also noted that the new pagers contained lithium batteries, which may have exploded due to overheating caused by a cyber operation.
If proven that Israel was indeed behind Tuesday’s cyber attack in Lebanon, Tel Aviv might again face international criticism as cyber attacks are considered illegal under international law.
Lebanon’s foreign ministry reacted to the incident and called the explosions an “Israeli cyber attack”. Israel’s IDF, however, has declined to comment on the blasts.
