Israel strikes Lebanon after pager attacks – live updates

The wave of pager and portable radio explosions targeting Hezbollah operatives allegedly orchestrated by Israel “does not stand by itself” and “might start a more decisive war in Lebanon,” former Mossad chief Danny Yatom has told The Washington Post.

He added that the attack was meant “to cause panic, and stress and shock” within Hezbollah, as well as to show that Israel is capable of breaching the group’s most secure lines of communication.

Oded Eilam, a former senior Mossad operative, described the apparent sabotage as Hezbollah’s “Pearl Harbor,” adding, however, that “the timing wasn’t the optimal one.” An unnamed Israel official echoed this view, suggesting that West Jerusalem had limited time to detonate the explosives because of the high risk of the plot being uncovered.

The Post also noted that “Washington has been trying furiously to head off a wider conflict” as tensions flared between Lebanon and Israel.

Bulgaria did not have any direct involvement with the shipment of pagers to Lebanon linked to a wave of explosions this week, government officials said on Friday.

The security agency DANS and other parts of the government investigated a Bulgarian firm over a connection with the Hungarian company BAC, which is suspected of being an Israeli intelligence front for funneling explosives-rigged devices to Hezbollah.

The probe confirmed that Bulgaria was not involved in the import, manufacturing, or export of the pagers, DANS said. The firm’s records did not indicate that it falls under national counterterrorism laws or international sanctions, it added.

Bulgarian officials did not identify the company in question, but local media previously reported that it was a Sofia-based business named Norta Global Ltd. Presumably, it is another shell company which is owned by Indian-born Norwegian tech entrepreneur Rinson Jose.

The Oslo Police District announced on Thursday evening that they have launched preliminary investigations into the man’s possible role in the scheme. Jose was allegedly used by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and is now shocked about the situation, according to media reports.

Moscow has reiterated its condemnation of what Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described as “unprecedented terrorist attacks” against Lebanon. At a press briefing on Friday morning, she also expressed concern over Israel’s announcement of a “new phase” of confrontation with Hezbollah.

Zakharova called the pager bombings a “principally new kind of terrorist act,” citing its scale and use of civilian technology. Russia is calling for a thorough investigation into what happened, she added.

”We are convinced that the start of a full-scale military operation in Lebanon would have the most destructive consequences for the security of the entire Middle East. This catastrophic scenario must be avoided,” she said, referring to a potential Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

David Azoulai, who heads the council of the Israeli border town of Metula, complained to the media about the heavy damage done to the evacuated settlement by recent Hezbollah strikes and a lack of government support.

”Unfortunately, I don’t hear much from either the statesmen or our military personnel. We are in a sort of ‘deal with it yourself and break your head’ situation,” the regional official told Israel’s Radio 103, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

”The Israeli government is not doing anything to remove the threat,” he added.

The components used in rigged pagers did not originate from Taiwan, local authorities confirmed.

Hezbollah ordered the devices from the Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, which said it outsourced the contract to the Budapest-based company BAC.

”The components are low-end IC [integrated circuits] and batteries,” Taiwanese Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei told reporters on Friday. “I can say with certainty they were not made in Taiwan.”

The Hungarian government has told the media that BAC has no manufacturing facilities in the country and that the pagers were never on its soil.

It was previously reported that BAC was a shell firm set up by Mossad to dupe Hezbollah into purchasing compromised pagers.

The recent redeployment of an Israeli commando division from Gaza to the border with Lebanon may indicate preparations for a ground invasion, a US defense official told The Wall Street Journal.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “new phase in the war” with Hezbollah. He told US special envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday in Tel Aviv that “the only way left to return the residents of the North [Israel] to their homes is via military action,” according to a statement from the minister’s office.

”I am very concerned about this spiraling out of control,” the unnamed WSJ source said.

A full-scale invasion would require weeks of additional preparation, but small ground operations may begin sooner, the official suggested.

Israeli intelligence has been planning “supply chain interdiction” operations for at least 15 years, ABC News reported, citing a US intelligence source.

The source claimed that the CIA “has long been reluctant to employ this tactic because the risk to innocents was too high,” the outlet said.

China opposes “any act that infringes on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday during a media briefing, commenting on the mass explosions this week.

Beijing is concerned over possible escalation of tensions and calls on “all parties to earnestly safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East,” the official added.

The US Department of State has declined to assess whether Israel broke international humanitarian law by weaponizing pagers and other devices against Hezbollah.

”We take into account all of the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law,” spokesman Matthew Miller said, when asked if the Jewish state violated the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). “I don’t pronounce judgment on those from this podium.”

The Amended Protocol II of the CCW, which deals with mines and booby traps, prohibits the use of such items “in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material.”

According to Western media reports, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad produced pagers with pre-installed explosive charges and delivered them to Hezbollah through a shell company. The shipments reportedly started in the summer of 2023.

Washington has commented on the claims made by Nasrallah in his speech on Thursday that some Western nations reached out to Hezbollah after the pager attack and urged it to normalize the situation on the Israeli border.

“Nasrallah could stop the terrorist attacks across Israel. And I guarantee you, if he did that, we would be impressing upon Israel the need to maintain calm on their end. The bottom line is he hasn’t stopped those terrorist attacks,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a regular press briefing.

He declined to state whether the US would support an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, should it happen, but said Washington’s commitment to  Israel’s self-defense remained iron-clad.