Over 2800 were injured, with multiple victims suffering life-threatening injuries, while at least 9 died as pagers across Lebanon detonated, targeting terror group Hezbollah. The pagers self-detonated in a synchronous fashion straight outta Hollywood fiction. Per Iran’s state media, Mojtaba Amin, the ambassador to Lebanon, was also injured in the attack.
The pager attack occurred at around 3:30 pm in Lebanon (or 6 PM IST). Most of the injuries were on the face, hands, and abdomen. Per an anonymous source, as stated to AFP, dozens of Hezbollah members have been wounded in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Among the dead were a 10 year old daughter of a Hezbollah operative. Ever since the Gaza war, Hezbollah, which backs Hamas, has directed its members to avoid mobile phones in order to avert security breaches by the Israeli government.The organization is banned by the European Union and the United States.
While initially the buzz was of cyber attacks targeting pages, unverified rumors now claim supply chain poisoning. Allegedly Israel’s Mossad placed explosives in missile data and electrical sockets of 5000 Taiwan-made pagers, breaching the supply chain. The batteries were replaced with remotely detonated explosives.
These devices were purchased by Iran from the international market. The pager model is identified as the Apollo Gold-manufactured AP924, which receives texts but can not be used for calls. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has vowed retaliation against Israel.
Lebanese officials said Tuesday that a “large number of people” were injured in various parts of the country after pagers they were carrying exploded, including members of the militant group Hezbollah, who carry the devices. https://t.co/ZNYxWMXFBf — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 17, 2024 https://x.
com/BRICSinfo/status/1836208287785586786 Hospitals overwhelmed by pager attack in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/AoPWsVHx8u — Brian Merlen (@votemerlen) September 17, 2024 Hezbollah vows "just retaliation from unexpected quarters" to Israel following mass explosions of pager devices across Lebanon.
Rahul Radhakrishnan has the latest pic.twitter.com/17yXdgk8T4 — TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 17, 2024 Netizens are condemning the attack, dubbing it terrorism, as the casualties of the targeted attack were civilians and even children.
“ Not a pager attack. A terrorist attack ,” jibed a journalist on X/Twitter. Not a pager attack.
A terrorist attack. — Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) September 17, 2024 The Zionist terrorist didn’t target Hezbollah members. They targeted everyone with a pager including doctors and nurses, killing a child.
This is a nation wide terrorist attack. pic.twitter.
com/9ojtlDMuHg — Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) September 17, 2024 Many of those injured in the Israeli pager terrorist attack are children. One child is dead. This is clip is in the longer video 1:07 min video of the wounded that the Zionists are passing around congratulating themselves on.
pic.twitter.com/PZ2ciHaYlZ — Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) September 18, 2024 This is a very serious concern raised ,are our mobile phones safe .
Mossad did a operation yesterday morning in which they hacked every pager and phone in South Lebanon and made them blast. They call it a attack on hezbollah .bs.
pic.twitter.com/1IlIydhspc — Butt sahab (@buttlegend786) September 17, 2024 Israel just orchestrated a cyber terror attack against thousands of pagers in Lebanon.
Nearly 3,000 injured and at least 8 are dead. Imagine if this was a coordinated cyber terror attack on state actors. Israel's terrorism spares no one, and the world must hold it accountable.
— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman) September 17, 2024 Leave aside that these pagers are used by doctors and nurses. If Hezbollah blew up the phones or pagers of IDF soldiers, whether or not on duty, inevitably killing and maiming children and bystanders - he'd denounce this as an obscene terrorist attack.
pic.twitter.com/Io1fQFsOKB https://t.
co/3cen505orm — Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) September 17, 2024 Putting bombs in pagers, not knowing who might be holding them, in a civillian area. Is an indiscriminate attack. An explicit war crime in the geneva conventions.
"apparent terror attack" is the correct framing for this https://t.co/mG8rXw6S4R — The Blindboy Podcast (@bbboatclub) September 17, 2024 While the world is condemning the attack, prominent conservatives including apologists like Dr David Wood who has a huge Indian right wing following joined in making a mockery, celebrating the attack. Not very Christ like Mr Wood! BREAKING: After today's hacked pager attack, the terrorist organization will be changing its name from "Hezbollah" to "NoBallzah.
" 🍒💥 https://t.co/lQfIoSvWnx — Dr. David Wood (@Acts17David) September 17, 2024 Commenting on the pager attacks, Edward Snowden slammed Israel for its recklessness, calling the act “ indistinguishable from terrorism .
” In another tweet, Snowden quipped that had the devices been iPhones with explosives, the media would have condemned it left right and center. He further remarked that “nothing can justify this. It’s a crime.
” “Everyone in the world is less safe for it,” Snowden added. If it were iPhones that were leaving the factory with explosives inside, the media would be a hell of a lot faster to cotton on to what a horrific precedent has been set today. Nothing can justify this.
It's a crime. A crime. And everyone in the world is less safe for it.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 17, 2024 What Israel has just done is, via *any* method, reckless. They blew up countless numbers of people who were driving (meaning cars out of control), shopping (your children are in the stroller standing behind him in the checkout line), et cetera. Indistinguishable from terrorism.
https://t.co/th4fYwa0jr — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 17, 2024 Meanwhile, people are worried if their cell phones made in China are any safer than the Taiwan-made pagers that exploded in Lebanon. Part of me says: this is an impressive stunt.
Another part of me says: probably this was a bad idea: are our cell phones safe? Because one thing is NSA or China listening us while we go to the grocery store. A whole different thing is exploding cell phones. — FrankSacca (@frank_s_us) September 18, 2024 Imagine India just went to war with China and your vivo reno poco 76 plus proSx receives an update.
pic.twitter.com/Nsh9yBMA4H — Mr Melancholy (@chakravartiin) September 17, 2024 See Also : Lok Sabha Security Breach: 2 Intruders Trigger Smoke Signals And Cause Massive Chaos, Video Goes Viral See Also : Binge-Watching Terror Attack Videos Impacts Your Mental Health And You Don’t Even Know It See Also: 'Act Of Terror': South Korean Opposition Leader Lee Jae-Myung Brutally Stabbed In Neck While Talking To Journalists.
