Hezbollah humiliation: Mossad’s covert mission aimed at neutering a terrorist army

Hezbollah has vowed revenge after Israel launched a stunning targeted attack in which pagers ­issued by the terror group ­exploded en masse across Lebanon, killing at least 12 and injuring almost 3000.

Some of those injured in the attack on Hezbollah, the type of pager used, and one after it exploded.

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Hezbollah has vowed revenge after Israel launched a stunning targeted attack in which pagers ­issued by the terror group ­exploded en masse across Lebanon, killing at least 12 and injuring almost 3000.

In an unprecedented intelligence victory for Israel, the attacks targeted those directly linked with Hezbollah, seriously injuring and maiming many of its key fighters, commanders and affiliates.

Israel’s spy agency Mossad is reported to have planted explosives inside about 5000 pagers that Hezbollah imported months ago.

The Middle East is again on a knife-edge as Israel and the US waits to see how the Iran-­sponsored Hezbollah responds to the attack, its biggest and most ­embarrassing blow in almost two decades.

Hezbollah said Israel would suffer “harsh punishment” for what it called “criminal aggression” against its “civilians”.

The explosions of thousands of the Hezbollah-issued pagers about 3.30pm (10.30pm AEST) on ­Tuesday caused mayhem around Lebanon as those carrying the ­devices fell to the ground, suffering grievous wounds and burns mostly to the groin, hands and face.

The devices blew up several seconds after they received a message purported to be from Hezbollah, maximising the damage as many people were trying to look at the incoming message when the pagers exploded.

The Hezbollah members were struck down en masse across the country, in marketplaces, on ­motorbikes and in homes, causing hospitals to be flooded with thousands of badly wounded men.

Videos and CCTV cameras across Lebanon captured Hezbollah members suddenly collapsing on the street while those around them ran for their lives.

Most of the victims were from Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut and in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon. Some ­explosions were also reported from Hezbollah proxies in Syria and Iraq. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani lost an eye when his pager exploded.

Video filmed in Bahman ­Hospital in Beirut’s southern ­suburbs showed mayhem as ­dozens of injured men lay in corridors and on stretchers awaiting help from overrun medical staff.

Eleven people were reported dead with at least 2800 injured, More than 300 of those were said to be in a critical condition.

Hezbollah said that pagers owned by “employees in various Hezbollah units and institutions” exploded, adding that the blasts also killed a young girl and her two brothers.

After the blasts Hezbollah reportedly ordered that “each one who received a new pager, throw it away”.

Israel did not admit liability for the attack, but Mossad was reportedly behind the plot, which ­involved the interception by ­Israeli agents of a new large batch of pagers ordered earlier this year by Hezbollah. Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo was reported to have manufactured the pagers, but the firm denied this, saying the pagers were made by a Hungarian firm with which it signed a deal.

Small amounts of explosives along with a detonator were ­inserted into the pagers by Mossad allowing them to be detonated ­remotely and en masse.

Hezbollah ordered the pagers to be given to its operatives after its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, strictly limited the use of mobile phones because of their perceived ­vulnerability to Israeli surveillance.

Tensions have soared between Hezbollah and Israel since the assassination by Israel of Hezbollah’s military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut in July. The pager attack comes days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told security chiefs Israeli defence forces were preparing for “a broad campaign of one intensity or another” on the northern front.

Mr Netanyahu is under pressure to resettle an estimated 60,000 Israelis who have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel by regular missile and drone attacks from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded almost daily attacks on each other since the Hamas attack on Israelis on October 7 last year at the same time as Israel has waged its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Shortly before the pager explosions, the Israel security agency said it had thwarted a planned Hezbollah attack on a “former senior official in Israel’s security establishment”, using a remote-controlled explosive device.

It is unclear why Israel chose this moment to carry out the attack. It comes at a delicate time in negotiations between Hamas and Israel over a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. Both sides have refused to commit to the deal, but the US has said that progress is being made.