White House: The U.S. Had No Involvement in the Explosions of Communication Devices Belonging to Hezbollah Operatives in Lebanon

While CNN reported that Israel informed the U.S. prior to the operation in Lebanon on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House stated on Wednesday: "We were in no way involved in the recent incidents." CNN claimed that Israeli officials contacted U.S. leaders, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, early Tuesday to inform them of an operation planned for that day in Lebanon, but did not provide details about their plans. These sources indicated that "the fact that no details were provided about this operation means that U.S. officials were not aware of the details before the pager explosions occurred." Meanwhile, John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters on September 28 that the United States had no involvement in the coordinated explosions of communication devices belonging to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. He stated that "the White House will continue its efforts to prevent the escalation of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah" and added, "It is still too early to say that this operation harms the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas." Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokesperson, also stated on Tuesday that the U.S. had no involvement in the explosion of Hezbollah's pagers in Lebanon. One day after the explosion of the pager devices, which killed at least 12 people in Lebanon, walkie-talkie devices also exploded, resulting in at least 20 deaths and 450 injuries. Hezbollah has accused Israel of carrying out this operation, but Israeli officials have not yet taken an official stance on the matter. Since Hamas's attack on October 7, Israel has repeatedly conducted attacks in Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's drone and missile launches. Israel has also targeted senior Hamas officials in Lebanon. The explosions of Hezbollah's pagers have brought attention to a cyber unit of the Israeli army. Conflicting news reports have emerged regarding the blinding of the Islamic Republic's ambassador in the pager explosion; users commented: "Moses's soldiers avenged the youth of Iran." A new wave of explosions in Lebanon has resulted in at least 14 deaths and 450 injuries due to the explosion of Hezbollah's walkie-talkies. Secretary of State Blinken warned of escalating tensions in the Middle East following the explosion of thousands of Hezbollah's communication devices. Hezbollah has accused Israel of widespread explosions of communication devices and threatened retaliation. The death toll from the pager explosion in Lebanon has risen to 12. Reuters reported that Israel had planted explosives in Hezbollah's ordered pagers months ago. Reuters also noted that the exploded pagers of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria were "Taiwanese and produced in Hungary."