Israel intercepted pagers ordered by Hezbollah.

Victims injured in the pager explosion are being taken to the AUBMC medical center in Beirut, Lebanon for treatment. (Photo: REUTERS/VNA)

According to the New York Times, Israel interfered with communications equipment that Hezbollah had ordered custom-made from an Asian territory, following a series of pager explosions in Lebanon that killed and injured thousands of people.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry blamed a cyberattack by Israel. The Hezbollah armed group had previously revealed that they used pagers for ordering messages as a means of communication. Hezbollah used pagers as a closed communication system, making them less vulnerable to hacking or eavesdropping.

According to the NYT, Israeli intelligence allegedly placed two ounces of explosive material next to the battery in each pager. "A switch was also installed so that it could be detonated remotely," the NYT reported.

Hezbollah fighters received a message at 3:30 p.m. Lebanese time, apparently from the leadership. When the message arrived, there was a brief pause, perhaps for the fighters to bring the pagers up to their faces, before they exploded.

According to the latest reports, more than 2,800 people were injured and 9 were killed.

Meanwhile, the Axios news portal reported on September 17, citing sources, that the detonation of pagers in Lebanon had been approved during meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cabinet members and security officials.

According to one source, Israel launched this operation to bring the fight against the Shiite Hezbollah movement in Lebanon to a new phase.

Axios also quoted two unnamed US officials as saying that Israel did not inform Washington of its plans before carrying out the operation.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington is gathering information about the incident. He affirmed that the US was not involved in the incident and had no prior knowledge of it.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nyt-israel-da-can-thiep-vao-may-nhan-tin-do-hezbollah-dat-hang-229555.html