Israel Takes Responsibility for Hezbollah Pager Explosions

For the first time, Israel has taken responsibility for the deadly attacks in September that involved explosions of Hezbollah's communication devices in Lebanon. Omar Dostri, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, stated on Sunday, November 20, that "Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that he ordered the operation against the pagers in Lebanon." The Times of Israel reported earlier that Mr. Netanyahu mentioned in a cabinet meeting that the operation to blow up the pagers and to kill Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, was carried out despite opposition from senior security officials. CNN also confirmed the authenticity of these statements attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister by citing a senior Israeli official. In September, dozens of Hezbollah members were killed and three thousand were injured over two consecutive days due to the explosions of the pagers and other communication devices used by the group. Following the explosions, Hezbollah, supported by the Islamic Republic, accused Israel of orchestrating the attack and stated, "The criminal enemy will be avenged for this aggression." Shortly after these explosions, Israel began extensive airstrikes in various regions of Lebanon, which continue to this day. As a result of these attacks, several key figures in Hezbollah's leadership, including Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safi al-Din, his potential successor, were killed. The Israeli army has also continued ground operations in southern Lebanon against what it calls Hezbollah targets in recent weeks. Following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, which ignited the Gaza war, Hezbollah, Tehran's proxy group in the region, began rocket and drone attacks on Israel in support of the extremist group Hamas, and the Israeli army has been responding to these attacks daily. On the other hand, the Israeli Prime Minister's office announced on Sunday that Benjamin Netanyahu had spoken three times by phone with Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, in recent days about the threats posed by the Islamic Republic to Israel's security. The statement added that these discussions focused on further strengthening the alliance between the U.S. and Israel to counter the threats from the Islamic Republic. Mr. Netanyahu also mentioned in the cabinet meeting that "Israel and the U.S. are in complete agreement on the threats posed by Iran." He further clarified that he discussed "great opportunities ahead for Israel in terms of peace and development" with Trump. The U.S. is Israel's largest ally, and analysts say Netanyahu is very optimistic about Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election. Mr. Trump has a long-standing friendship with Netanyahu and a very hardline policy against Iran. During his previous presidency, he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and helped normalize relations between Israel and some Arab countries.