A wave of explosions in the Middle East has killed at least 11 people and injured thousands more
Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after a wave of pager explosions killed several members of the Lebanon-based Islamist group and wounded thousands more on Tuesday.
At least 11 people were killed and around 3,000 wounded when pagers, which Hezbollah uses to make it harder to intercept messages, began exploding in Lebanon and Syria. Among the wounded were Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, as well as several senior Hezbollah officials.
Although media reports have suggested the blasts were orchestrated by Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, West Jerusalem has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it maintains “The Israeli enemy is fully responsible for this criminal aggression.” It also pledged to continue its military operations against Israel in support of Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza despite the pager explosions.
“This path is continuous and separate from the difficult reckoning that awaits the criminal enemy for its massacre on Tuesday… This is another reckoning that will come,” The group added, insisting that the attack will only strengthen their resolve.
The New York Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Israel concealed the explosives in the pagers, which bore the brand name of Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, before they were sent to Lebanon. Gold Apollo said it had authorized the use of its name on the pagers, but that they had been manufactured by a Budapest-based company.
Hezbollah began using pagers and other low-tech communication methods out of fear that cellphone messages could be hacked or tracked by Israeli intelligence.
Israel and Hezbollah, which has close ties to Iran, have been at odds for many years, and tensions rose after the Israel-Hamas war broke out last October. The two have regularly exchanged cross-border attacks that have caused numerous casualties, but have so far refrained from direct confrontation.
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