Israel Has No Connection to Mass Pager Attack in Lebanon, President Says

The remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

The Israeli government had “no connection” to widespread pager attacks that left dozens of people dead and thousands injured in Lebanon, the Israeli president said on Sept. 22.

In an interview with Sky News, Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied claims made by Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist group that Israel was behind the attacks carried out via exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.

“First of all, I reject out of hand any connection to this or that source of operation,” Herzog said when a reporter asked whether Israel was involved.

Two waves of explosions erupted across Lebanon last week, reportedly targeting members of Hezbollah, which runs Lebanon’s government.

In the first attack, which primarily affected pagers, 12 people died and thousands were injured, officials said. In the second, 25 people died and 600 were injured.

During his Sky News interview, Herzog focused on Hezbollah’s actions earlier this summer. The group is accused of launching a rocket at a civilian area in the Golan Heights. Twelve children died in the attack, which prompted Israeli counter-strikes against Hezbollah inside Lebanon.

“All I would say is that just at the opening of the Olympic Games, 12 Israeli children of the Druze religion were murdered by a terrible missile attack, a rocket attack by Hezbollah in Majdal Shams, where they were playing football,” Herzog said.

“There are terrible tragedies in this war, and we never want to get there, but we have the inherent right to defend ourselves. And the fact is that houses have been demolished, Israelis were killed, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Jews all in the northern part of Israel, where they live peacefully.”

He added that those people have been “evacuated from their home for a year” because of Hezbollah.

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said Sept. 19 in a televised address that both Lebanon and Syria, which also experienced pager explosions, suffered a “severe blow” and that Israel crossed a “red line.” He called the attacks a “declaration of war” by Israel.

He said that Hezbollah will continue its attacks along the border with Israel as long as the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza proceeds.

Iran, which has long backed Hezbollah, claimed that one of its diplomats was killed in the mass pager explosions, according to statements issued via state-run media. According to Iranian state media outlet Press TV, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Sept. 22 that the group has entered a “new phase.” He called for an ”open-ended battle” with Israel after the attacks.

Some speculated about the origin of the devices that exploded. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Sept. 18 that it had authorized the use of its brand on the AR-924 pager models reportedly used in the attacks—but that a company based in Budapest, Hungary, called BAC Consulting KFT actually produced and sold the pagers.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. And a Hungarian government spokesman later added that the pager devices had never been in Hungary, either, noting that BAC had merely acted as an intermediary.

The exploding walkie-talkies were reportedly made by the Japanese company Icom. Ray Novak, a senior sales manager at the U.S. subsidiary of Icom, said last week that the exploded radio devices in Lebanon appear to be knock-off products and were not made by Icom.

“I can guarantee you they were not our products,” he said in an interview Sept. 18 at a trade show in Providence, Rhode Island.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.