Hezbollah leader says pager attacks crossed red lines: ‘Act of war’

“The enemy has crossed all the boundaries and red lines,” Nasrallah said in a widely anticipated speech Thursday evening local time about the attacks, which he described as “a serious attack on Lebanon, its security and sovereignty, a war crime — an act of war,” adding that the attacks dealt an “unprecedented blow” to Hezbollah and Lebanon.

More than 30 people were killed Tuesday and Wednesday in Lebanon when various Hezbollah devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, exploded. The act of sabotage, believed to have been carried out by Israelis, injured about 3,000 people. U.S. officials have publicly denied any involvement in the attack and have refused to directly attribute the attack to Israel.

Israel not only managed to sabotage the devices used by Hezbollah, but also developed an elaborate scheme to produce them through various front companies that were in fact created by Israeli intelligence, according to New York Times. They had some real clients and Hezbollah. Pagers made for Hezbollah contained batteries impregnated with explosive PETN, according to Times.

Shortly before Nasrallah’s speech on Thursday, the Israeli military announced the launch of airstrikes on targets in southern Lebanon.

“The IDF is currently attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon to weaken Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure,” the IDF said. “For decades, Hezbollah has armed civilian homes, dug tunnels under them, and used civilians as human shields – turning southern Lebanon into a war zone.”

The army said on Thursday that Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the IDF General Staff, had approved plans for operations against Hezbollah in the northern part of the country.

Israel’s alleged actions this week potentially open a new chapter in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has spanned decades but flared up again after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.

As the Israeli military carried out a ground invasion of Gaza after the October 7 attack—which killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 more and brought them back to Gaza—it was drawn into a narrow cross-border conflict with Hezbollah. Israel and Hezbollah began firing rockets and missiles from northern Israel into southern Lebanon and vice versa.

Amid fears that Hezbollah could launch a cross-border attack similar to Hamas, Israel has moved to evacuate tens of thousands of civilians from their homes in northern Israel, and they remain displaced. Israeli leaders have made the return of these civilians to their homes a priority in their actions against Hezbollah.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Wednesday: “We are at the beginning of a new phase of the war — we are committing resources and forces to the northern arena,” though he did not specify what the new phase would involve.

On Wednesday, Gallant spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during which the Israeli leader said they “considered the strategic regional picture and briefed the secretary on IDF operations in the south and north, focusing on defending Israel against Hezbollah threats.”

There have been several moments since the outbreak of fighting when it appeared that the limited conflict between Israel and Hezbollah would escalate into all-out war, though both sides have clearly made every effort to continue fighting without crossing that line.

In late July, a Hezbollah rocket killed a dozen teenagers in the Golan Heights, and days later, the Israelis carried out a brazen attack in Beirut, targeting a senior leader, Fouad Shukr, who they said was responsible for a deadly attack a few days earlier. Just a day after Shukr’s assassination, Israel allegedly carried out another assassination attempt on Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, in Tehran.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IN THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

After both attacks, Iran and Hezbollah retaliated and promised to do so. Austin sent more U.S. forces and assets to the Middle East to help Israel in the event of a large response.

In late August, Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in what it described as “preemptive” actions to prevent an attack. At the same time, Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, though Israeli air defenses largely prevented casualties and damage.