Between Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel caused at least 31 deaths and more than 4,300 injuries in Lebanon: it compromised the electronic supply network of Hezbollah, the paramilitary and political group organized and financed by Iran, which dominates large areas of the country. On Tuesday, around 3 p.m., thousands of pagers used by the militants exploded: 11 dead and 4,000 injured. The following day, at the same time, hundreds of walkie-talkies exploded: another 20 victims and 450 injured. A few hours after the events, a sensational news emerges: the BAC company, responsible for the pagers that exploded Tuesday in Lebanon, was created by Israel as part of a sophisticated operation, according to what was reported by the New York Times. BAC, based in Hungary, owned the license to use the trademark of the Taiwanese company Apollo Gold. The explosions involving pagers on Tuesday and portable radios on Wednesday mainly affected members of Hezbollah. Of the nearly 40 dead and more than 3,000 wounded, only four of the victims were not affiliated with Hezbollah, including the son of a Lebanese lawmaker linked to the group. However, he also had a Hezbollah pager, raising questions about its supposed neutrality. The Times indicated that Wednesday’s blasts may have involved a larger quantity of explosives than those of the previous day.
Israel has not commented on or claimed responsibility for the attacks, but a dozen current and former intelligence and defense officials say on condition of anonymity that Israel is behind the actions, which they describe as “strikes.” The officials confirmed that the operation was long and complex. In February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the “Israeli agents” were the mobile phones in the possession of fighters and their families, used to track terrorists. Nasrallah advised his men “not to use the phones and to put them in locked iron boxes.” US intelligence reported that Nasrallah believed the pagers were more secure because they could receive information without revealing the location of the users and were less vulnerable to cyber attacks. However, this assessment has proven to be completely wrong. Hezbollah’s leader is expected to deliver a speech today, calling on him to restore order within a confused and destabilized organization. Meanwhile, his deputy, Hashem Safieddine, has promised “bloody revenge.” However, few in Lebanon believe that Hezbollah will choose to go to war with Israel, perhaps by attacking civilian infrastructure. An escalation of the conflict that would involve the whole of Lebanon seems very unlikely, since the so-called “party of God” could not sustain such a clash without paying a heavy political price and in terms of popular consensus in a country already exhausted by the economic crisis that seems never-ending.
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