Netanyahu Confirms He Ordered Pager, Walkie Talkie Attacks Against Hezbollah in Lebanon

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a go ahe for carrying out dely pr and walkie-talkie attacks against Hezbollah leers in Leban, his office confirmed on Sunday.

attacks, carried out on September 17 and 18, targeted thousands of handheld prs and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members across Leban and Syria. 

" pr operation and elimination of [Hezbollah leer Hassan] Nasrallah were carried out despite opposition of senior officials in defence establishment and those responsible for m in political echelon," Netanyahu reportedly said, in a t-very-oblique dig at IDF and intelligence chiefs, as well as his recently fired defence minister, Yoav Gallant. 

Last week, Netanyahu dismissed defence minister Yoav Gallant, citing a lack of trust, and replaced him with Israel Katz, who was previously serving as foreign minister. Netanyahu and Gallant h clashed multiple times during ir time in government, Times of Israel reported. 

Earlier, Israel h t publicly claimed responsibility for attacks that targeted Hezbollah, which saw prs and walkie-talkies explode in two waves on September 17 and 18, resulting in at least 39 deaths. 

Times of Israel reported that Leban said nearly 3,000 ors were wounded in attack. tolls did t differentiate between civilians and members of terror group, and among wounded was Tehran's ambassor to Leban Mojtaba Amani. 

In aftermath, various media outlets reported that attack was a highly sophisticated Israeli intelligence operation years in making in which Hezbollah was fooled into purchasing compromised devices.

explosions were followed up by a series of Israeli airstrikes that took out much of Hezbollah's command structure, including Nasrallah, and an ongoing limited ground operation in sourn Leban to eliminate immediate threats posed by terror group to Israel's rrn border communities. 

Earlier, Lebanese health ministry anunced that country's death toll in Israel-Hezbollah war h crossed 3,000. figure does t distinguish between civilians and combatants. 

IDF h estimated that some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives h been killed in conflict. Around 100 members of or terror groups h also been reported killed in Leban.