Headline Roundup • September 18th, 2024
Pager Explosions Injure Thousands of Hezbollah Members, Kill Several
World,Hezbollah,Israel,Middle East,Terrorism,Violence,Explosion,Lebanon,Syria,Israel Hamas Violence,Technology,National Security
Summary from the AllSides News Team
In Lebanon and Syria, at 3:30pm local time on Tuesday, pagers that Hezbollah members were using to communicate simultaneously exploded. On Wednesday, there were fresh reports of Hezbollah hand-held radios exploding.
The Details: Casualty numbers are rising quickly, with the latest reports saying 2,800 were injured and nine killed. The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was among the injured.
For Context: Hezbollah, the strongest political party in Lebanon, is aligned with Iran and Hamas, and is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S.. Hezbollah relies on pagers to avoid Israel intercepting its members' communications.
How This Happened: The affected pagers were from a new shipment the group received produced by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. While the cause has not been officially determined, the Wall Street Journal (Center bias) cites security experts who speculate that the cause was likely malware that caused the batteries in the pagers to overheat remotely. It is likely the work of Israeli intelligence, amid tension at the Israel-Lebanon border. A Hezbollah official said the detonations were its "biggest security breach" in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
How the Media Covered It: Media covered the developing story similarly. Some sources speculated about the cause of the detonations more than others, with ZeroHedge (Lean Right) calling it "an apparent covert Mossad operation." Breitbart (Right) said, "The explosions of the pagers appeared to injure the individuals wearing the pagers, but not necessarily the other people nearby." The Telegraph (Lean Right) reported that a 10-year-old girl was killed when her father's pager exploded.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Pagers carried by thousands of Hezbollah operatives exploded at about the same time Tuesday afternoon, leaving more than 2,700 injured and eight dead in an unprecedented event that struck across Lebanon.
The affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days, people familiar with the matter said. A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters had such devices, speculating that malware may have caused the devices to explode. The official said some people felt the pagers heat up and disposed of them before they burst.
ZeroHedge
Hundreds Wounded, Dead In Beirut After Israel Remotely Detonates Hezbollah Pagers An apparent covert Mossad operation has unleashed chaos in a southern Beirut neighborhood on Tuesday, resulting in large-scale casualties among Hezbollah operatives and reportedly Lebanese civilians. Telecommunications devices used by Hezbollah members began exploding, resulting in up to hundreds wounded in the suburb of Dahiyeh. There appears to be fatalities, according to graphic social media images. Reuters reports, "Hundreds of members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, including fighters and medics, were seriously wounded on Tuesday when the pagers...
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Semafor
Hundreds of Hezbollah members in Lebanon were injured after multiple pagers, a form of personal wireless communication device, exploded Tuesday, a a member of Hezbollah’s media office said. Hezbollah, an Iran and Hamas-aligned militia, alleged the pagers were targeted in a cyberattack. The official confirmed with Semafor that the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was injured, adding that some pagers had also reportedly exploded in Syria. The total number of injuries was over 1,000, the country’s health ministry said. The explosions appeared to be concentrated in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley...
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