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Yves here. Even though we had a lot of information about the Israel attack on Hezbollah via pagers-turned-bombs in Links, more detail is coming out. One element, which the Common Dreams article below highlights, is that the attack comes despite the captured-by-Israel supposed negotiator Amos Hochstein having had, the day before the pager blasts, told Israel not to escalate with Hezbollah. So it’s not hard to see this act as a raised middle finger to US calls for moderation, and the claim that some Hezbollah fighters had uncovered that the pagers had been tampered with, a fabrication.
As many commentators have pointed out, Israel hard-liners and above all Netanyahu, is eager to get the US committed to backing Israel in a bigger conflict. It seems likely that they regard between now and the US election a prime time. The Biden Administration would have to act; the trick would be presenting Israel as threatened, as opposed to having picked a fight and gotten a punch back. Netanyahu is also under ever-increasing domestic pressure, so an increased external threat, even if he had ginned it up, would be welcome.
Some additional information from The Cradle. Hezbollah maintains the attack has not affected its operations:
Hezbollah stated on 18 September that its operations against Israel would continue normally, reiterating its vow to respond to the large-scale Israeli terror attack against Lebanon in a statement on 18 September.
The Lebanese resistance will “continue today, as in all the past days, its blessed operations to support Gaza, its people, and its resistance, and to defend Lebanon, its people, and its sovereignty,” Hezbollah’s statement read.
Hazbollah also maintains that there were pager-users that were not Hezbollah members, as in innocent civilians. This is in addition to civilians in the detonation area of Hezbollah pagers, such as two children out of the 12 deaths so far:
Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim al-Moussawi said that the pagers that exploded were not only in the possession of Hezbollah members but others as well.
A consequence of the attack may be Egypt taking a particularly hard line regarding Israel demands for greater control of the so-called Philadelphia corridor, on the Gaza’s border with Egypt. This is a very fresh story from Middle East Eye:
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Wednesday said that Cairo will not accept changes to the “rules of operation” in the Philadelphi Corridor that were in place before 7 October, particularly regarding the rules governing the operation of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side.
During a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Abdelatty emphasised Egypt’s complete rejection of any military presence on the other side of the crossing or in the corridor, which is the narrow strip of land over the entire 14 km border between Egypt and Gaza.
Abdelatty added: “We cannot hold the future of stability in a vital region like the Middle East hostage to the absence of political will on the part of some parties. Therefore, we will continue our efforts to exert influence and pressure until we can reach an agreement that ensures stability in the region.”
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is set to speak more or less now, so I will add an update. Update: Oopsie, the initial source was wrong. Nasrallah to speak Thursday.
By Jake Johnson, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams
Several news outlets confirmed late Tuesday what was widely suspected: Israel’s military and intelligence services were behind the explosions of pagers recently purchased by the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah.
The explosions, reportedly set off earlier Tuesday by a message that appeared as if it was from Hezbollah’s leadership, killed at least 11 people—including an 8-year-old girl—and wounded thousands more.
Citing both an unnamed former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation and an anonymous U.S. official, Axios reported that “Israeli intelligence services planned to use the booby-trapped pagers it managed to ‘plant’ in Hezbollah’s ranks as a surprise opening blow in an all-out war to try to cripple Hezbollah.”
“But in recent days, Israeli leaders became concerned that Hezbollah might discover the pagers,” the outlet continued. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his top ministers, and the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and the intelligence agencies decided to use the system now rather than take the risk of it being detected by Hezbollah, a U.S. official said.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department publicly denied that the Biden administration was involved in the attack or aware of the operation in advance.
Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, wrote Tuesday that “each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack,” pointing to video footage of a pager detonating in a crowded market.
“Under these circumstances,” Matthews added, “this is an act of terror.”
בסופר ובחנות הירקות: תיעוד נוסף של מכשיר קשר מתפוצץ לפעילי חיזבאללה בכיס@anastasia___stu @OmerShahar123 pic.twitter.com/OcjQsGLhvv
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 17, 2024
The New York Timesreported Tuesday that Hezbollah ordered thousands of pagers from the Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, but the company denied making the devices. According to the Times, which cited unnamed officials, Israeli operatives “tampered with” the devices “before they reached Lebanon,” planting in them “as little as one to two ounces” of explosive material and a switch “that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.”
Heightening fears of a broader conflict, Hezbollah pledged Tuesday to retaliate against Israel over the attack, which reportedly injured Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon as well as Hezbollah fighters and medics.
The Guardian‘s Andrew Roth noted Tuesday that just “a day before the coordinated sabotage, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to [U.S. President] Joe Biden, was in Israel urging Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials against an escalation in Lebanon.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly sabotaged cease-fire negotiations with hardline demands in recent weeks as the Israeli military—heavily armed by the U.S.—continues to assail the Gaza Strip.
“While U.S. officials have said that the basis for peace along Israel’s northern boundary with Lebanon would come through a cease-fire in Gaza, that agreement has proven elusive and appears no closer to fruition,” Roth wrote Tuesday. “The White House had hoped that a period of quiet around Israel would allow for cease-fire negotiators to achieve a breakthrough, as intermediaries shuttle between Hamas and Israel to thread the needle of both sides’ complex demands regarding a hostage exchange and territorial claims.”
“That period of quiet has now been shattered with a breathtaking act of subterfuge and Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate,” Roth added.