Pager blasts signify ...
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On Wednesday, Western intelligence sources informed the media that around 500 Hezbollah fighters suffered severe eye injuries in the pager attacks in Lebanon, with some losing their sight. The attack by Israeli intelligence and the military has unsettled the entire world and could set a dangerous precedent for other states and non-state actors, with Israel itself possibly becoming a target. Experts from several countries have begun arriving in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate even more forcefully.
Pagers and walkie-talkies are not only used for security purposes and medical staff also rely on pagers because of their strong signals. The simultaneous explosion of pagers by Israeli intelligence in Lebanon and Syria resulted in the martyrdom of 12 people, including two children, and left around 3,000 others injured, many severely. The Iranian ambassador suffered a serious eye injury in the attack. The Israeli terrorism through pagers also targeted people via walkie-talkies, leading to the martyrdom of 14 Lebanese civilians and injuring 450
more.
The West has remained silent on this two-day-long terrorism, but they should not assume they are safe from the flames as smart devices are used more widely in the West. Western security sources reported that hundreds of Hezbollah members were looking at their pagers at the time of the explosion because the devices were designed to detonate five seconds after sending a message to maximize damage. According to Lebanese medical officials, injuries ranged from facial wounds, including loss of sight, to deep lacerations in the hips and thighs, and severe
burns.
Experts have pointed out that the “Gold Apollo” pagers were delivered to Hezbollah members within three weeks to a month, and Israel received intelligence that Hezbollah had become aware of their plan to some extent, prompting Israel to act quickly. The pagers were filled with 2 to 20 grams of PETN, an extremely explosive substance.
The attacks have severely damaged Hezbollah’s communication network and experts believe that planning for this operation may have taken several months, requiring extensive intelligence gathering and technical expertise. The long-term effects of this attack are not easy to comprehend yet, but it marks a dangerous development in the use of cyber and warfare tactics, leaving people afraid of using smart devices. This will ultimately harm Europe and the US, while trust in Chinese products might increase.