2024 Lebanon electronic device attacks

2024 Lebanon electronic device attacks
Part of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)
Part of an exploded device
Location	Lebanon and Syria
Date	17–18 September 2024
Target	Hezbollah members[1][2]
Weapons	Pagers (Day 1) Walkie-talkies (Day 2)
Deaths	42[a]
Injured	3,500+[7]
Perpetrator	Israel[b][9]

On 17 and 18 September 2024, thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies intended for use by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously in two separate events across Lebanon and Syria in an Israeli attack.^[8] The attack killed at least 42 people, including at least 12 civilians, and wounded more than 3,000.^[7][10][11] The incident was described as Hezbollah's biggest security breach since the start of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict in October 2023.^[12]

The first wave of explosions targeted pagers,^[13] and occurred on 17 September, around 15:30 EEST, killing at least 12 people, including two Hezbollah members and two children,^[12][14][15] and wounding more than 2,750,^[16] including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon.^[17] The second wave targeted Icom walkie-talkies and occurred on 18 September, killing at least 30 people and injuring over 750.^[5][18][13] The explosions occurred mostly in Lebanon,^[19][8] as well as in several locations in Syria.^[20][21] There were chaotic scenes at the 150 hospitals across Lebanon that received victims of the explosions.^[22][23]

In February 2024, Hezbollah's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah instructed the group's members to use pagers instead of cell phones, claiming Israel had infiltrated their cell phone network.^[24][25] Hezbollah then purchased Gold Apollo AR-924 pagers^[26][27][28] about five months before the explosions.^[29] The Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) had secretly manufactured the devices, integrated the explosive PETN into the devices, and sold them to Hezbollah through a shell company.^[30][31] International officials and scholars of the law of war have debated the legality of the attacks, with critics suggesting they might constitute war crimes or acts of terrorism.^[32][33][34]

Responding to the attacks, Nasrallah described the explosions as a "major blow"^[35] and labeled them an act of war,^[36] possibly a declaration of war by Israel.^[37][c] Initially Israel denied involvement,^[38] though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israeli responsibility for the attacks later in November 2024. Following the explosions, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "new phase" of the war in northern Israel and Lebanon had begun.^[39] Hezbollah vowed retaliation,^[19] launching a rocket attack on northern Israel a few days later that struck cities such as Nazareth and Kiryat Bialik, injuring several civilians.^[40] Ten days later, Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike in Beirut.^[41]

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