Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a pager during his address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, invoking Israel’s September 2024 operation targeting Hezbollah’s communications network in Lebanon.
“Israel struck Hamas, we struck Hezbollah. Remember the beepers? “You remember the beepers? Remember these things? Remember them? Well, I can tell you this Hezbollah certainly remembers them. All aimed at our civilians. The explosions caused casualties not only among Hezbollah members but also among civilians.
Guess what happened to the bulk of the vast arsenal of 150,000 ballistic missiles and rockets? Netanyahu was referring to the September 17, 2024, explosions in which thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated across Lebanon and parts of Syria. The blasts killed 12 people and wounded almost 3,000, said a BBC report at that time. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the operation, while Israel did not publicly acknowledge its role until November 2024, when Netanyahu reportedly admitted for the first time that Israel was behind the attack.
Netanyahu said, displaying the device before the UNGA audience. They’re gone,” The Israeli PM said. Reports said the devices had apparently been compromised before reaching Hezbollah members. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured, Iranian media said that his injuries were minor. The Israeli prime minister also described Israel’s broader conflict as a “seven-front war”, naming Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria and Palestinian militants in the West Bank. Netanyahu also accused Turkey of backing Hamas and called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “tyrant”. Turkey’s presidential communications director Burhanettin Duran dismissed the remarks as “baseless accusations” that were “incompatible” with UN ideals, according to Ankara-base news outlet Anadolu.
