Netanyahu takes credit for Hezbollah pager blasts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed for the first time on Sunday that the IDF carried out September’s pager attacks in Lebanon, which wounded thousands of Hezbollah terrorists, killing dozens.

"There were senior officials in the defense establishment and the political echelon in charge of them who opposed the pager operation, as well as [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah's elimination," Netanyahu told fellow ministers at the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.

"When I wanted to eliminate Nasrallah, [have the IDF] enter [Gaza's Hamas stronghold] Rafah and other things, there were those who opposed it in the Cabinet," the prime minister added.

In September, thousands of pagers exploded across Hezbollah‘s terrorist strongholds in Lebanon. A day later, hundreds of Hezbollah walkie-talkies exploded. The attacks killed 39 people and injured some 3,000.

Jerusalem for weeks declined to comment on the pager blasts—the first wave of which came hours after the Israeli Cabinet added the return of displaced northern residents to their homes to the country’s war goals.

Each of the Hezbollah communication devices that exploded was individually detonated, with Israeli intelligence operatives knowing exactly which terrorist was being targeted, his location and whether others were in close proximity, according to reports in Israeli media.

The reports said the Mossad intelligence agency produced tens of thousands of pagers with the knowledge they would be thoroughly examined by Hezbollah, including through inspections by sniffer dogs.

Just over a week after the pager blasts, Israeli Air Force fighter jets dropped a dozen 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs, killing Nasrallah, who had led the Lebanese terrorist organisation for more than three decades.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily since Oct. 8, 2023, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 60 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israelis remain internally displaced due to the violence.

Last week, Netanyahu dismissed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, replacing him with Israel Katz, who until then served as foreign minister.

Gallant and Netanyahu “had substantial disagreements on the management of the military campaign, disagreements which were accompanied by public statements and actions that contravened the decisions of the government and the Security Cabinet,” the premier said.

Katz thanked Netanyahu for entrusting him with the new responsibility and vowed to lead the Israeli military “towards victory against our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war: The return of all the hostages as the most important mission, the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the curbing of Iranian aggression and the safe return of the residents of the north and south to their homes.”