(Image via aljazeera.com)

Staff Writer: Akshit Bagga

Email: abagga@umassd.edu

Scores of people were killed and thousands wounded after pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in the Middle Eastern countries of Lebanon, Syria, and neighboring territories for two days in a row.

On September 16, highly sophisticated tech device explosions rocked Lebanon and Syria when thousands of pager devices primarily used by the members of the Hezbollah militant group simultaneously exploded at 3:30 PM local time (8:30 AM ET). 

Approximately nine people were reported dead, while 2,750 were injured.

Continuing this spree of deadly device detonations, more electronic communication devices, including mobile phones and other electronic communication devices, exploded on September 17. While this increased the overall death count to more than 20, an additional 450 people were wounded, increasing the injured count to more than 3,000.

While no country or organization has taken direct responsibility for these two attacks, fingers point towards Israel. Beginning October 8 last year, forces from Israel and Hezbollah have been engaging in a fierce exchange in the Lebanon-Israel border area. This battle started immediately after Hamas carried out attacks on Israel, killing more than 1,000 people and taking at least 200 captives, adding fuel to the Israel-Gaza war.

Sources suggest that these attacks could have been more than six months in planning and describe it as a “huge operation.” At least one to two ounces of explosives were seeded inside. This attack is termed a “supply chain interdiction attack,” where hardware is tampered with during transportation.

While the root cause of how these devices exploded is yet to be determined, there have been theories of technical bugs and hacking that might have prompted them. It is widely speculated that the radio networks used for network communication in these devices might have been hacked, and that may have resulted in triggering an overheating signal, ultimately exploding the device.

Following the attacks, Hezbollah issued a statement mentioning, “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.” They added, “This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly get his just retribution on this sinful aggression from where it counts and from where it does not count.”

An eight-year-old girl, the son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar, and a ten-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member were among those killed in these attacks. Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was among the injured.

According to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least 14 people were injured in Syria.

In a statement issued by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, he said, “At this extremely volatile time, I appeal to all States with influence in the region and beyond to take immediate measures to avert further widening of the current conflicts – enough of the daily horrors, enough of the suffering. It is high time leaders stepped up in defense of the rights of all people to live in peace and security. The protection of civilians must be the paramount priority. De-escalation is today more crucial than ever.”

According to BBC, President Joe Biden said the US was “working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return home safely.” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the “escalation is extremely dangerous and worrying.” The US and EU have both designated the Hezbollah militant group a foreign terrorist organization. 

Following the attacks, Israel has also launched air strikes on Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah leaders and its associated members. The founding member of the militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed in one of these air strikes in a southern suburb of Beirut. 

Nasrallah is considered one of the dominant forces and a powerful leader in the controversial Middle Eastern region, and his killing comes as a shock to its allies. 

While the people in Lebanon were mourning the death of their leader, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Nasrallah was not a terrorist, he was the terrorist.” The Hezbollah group is alleged to have helped Hamas in its war against Israel while also providing training to its fighters from Palestine. 

Other than Nasrallah, six other Hezbollah leaders holding top ranks were also killed. With Nasrallah’s killing, Hashem Saffiedine, who has been designated as a foreign terrorist by the United States since 2017, is rumored to be the next chief.