A modern ‘Trojan Horse’: two days of mayhem in Lebanon

A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. (AFP)
A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. (AFP)
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Updated 21 September 2024
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A modern ‘Trojan Horse’: two days of mayhem in Lebanon

A modern ‘Trojan Horse’: two days of mayhem in Lebanon
  • The explosions were felt Hezbollah’s strongholds throughout Lebanon: the southern Beirut suburbs, the south of the country and the Bekaa Valley in the east, as well as in Syria

PARIS: It’s around 3:30 in the afternoon on September 17. People in Lebanon are going about their daily business, doing the shopping, having a haircut, conducting meetings.
Hundreds of pagers across the country, and even outside its borders, then simultaneously bleep with a message and explode, wounding and killing their owners and also bystanders.
The communications devices were used by members of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which swiftly blamed Israel for the operation, as did several international media organizations.
Israel, according to its convention for operations outside its borders, neither confirmed nor denied the charge.
But observers say that the simultaneous explosions bear all the hallmarks of an operation by Israel, which appears to have infiltrated the supply chain of the pager production and inserted tiny but potent explosives inside.
Israel may have even set up a shell company to supply the devices to Hezbollah in a years-long project that would seem fantastical even in an espionage thriller, according to analysts.
But that was not the end. A day later, on September 18, around the same time in the afternoon, another low-fi gadget, the walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah cadres, exploded, even amid the funerals for those killed in the pager attacks.
The subsequent day, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who himself had told group members to use low-fi devices so as not to be targeted by Israel through the positioning of their smartphones, made his first public comments, admitting an “unprecedented blow” but also vowing “tough retribution and just punishment” for Israel.
Even though there is next to no doubt Israel was behind the operation, questions abounded. Why now? Is this the start of the widely-feared Israeli offensive into southern Lebanon? Or has Israel simply activated the explosives now simply because it feared the whole operation risked being compromised?

The explosions were felt Hezbollah’s strongholds throughout Lebanon: the southern Beirut suburbs, the south of the country and the Bekaa Valley in the east, as well as in Syria.
At least 37 people were killed in the two attacks and thousands injured.
The wounded included Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon. But those killed also included a 10-year-old girl and another child. As the hospitals filled up the most common wounds were mutilated hands and eyes.
“Hezbollah suffered a very serious blow on a tactical level, a very impressive and comprehensive one that affects the operational side, the cognitive side,” said Yoram Schweitzer, a former intelligence officer now at the The Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Peter Harling, founder of the Synaps Lab think tank added: “The targets may have been Hezbollah members, but many were caught in the midst of their ordinary lives, and in the heart of their communities.”
“This is also a breach that is extraordinarily hard to explain.”
UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that the simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals “whether civilians or members of armed groups” without knowledge as to who was around them at the time “violates international human rights law.”
International humanitarian law prohibits the use of “booby traps” precisely to avoid putting civilians at grave risk and “produce the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa Director at Human Rights Watch.

Espionage professionals have meanwhile expressed their admiration for how the operation was put together.
“It’s not a technological feat,” said a person working for a European intelligence service, asking not to be named. But “it’s the result of human intelligence and heavy logistics.”
The small devices, bearing the name of the firm Gold Apollo in Taiwan, were intercepted by Israeli services before their arrival in Lebanon, according to multiple security sources who spoke to AFP, asking not to be named.
But the Taiwanese company denied having manufactured them and pointed to its Hungarian partner BAC.
Founded in 2022, the company is registered in Budapest. Its CEO, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, appears there as the only employee.
The devices in question have never been on Hungarian soil, according to the Hungarian authorities.
The New York Times, citing three intelligence sources, said BAC was “part of an Israeli front” with at least two other shell companies were created as well to mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers who were Israeli intelligence officers.
It described the pagers as a “modern day Trojan Horse” after the wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks to enter the city of Troy in the Trojan War.

The attack comes nearly a year after Hezbollah ally Hamas carried out its October 7 attack on Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.
The focus of Israel’s firepower has since been on the Palestinian territory, but Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops have exchanged fire almost daily across the border region since October, forcing thousands on both sides to flee their homes.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the focus of the war was shifting toward Lebanon, while the government said securing the northern front was a key objective, in order to allow Israelis evacuated from the area to return home.
Schweitzer said that despite the spectacular nature of the device operation it did not represent the end of Israel’s work to degrade Hezbollah.
“I don’t think this impressive operation that has its tactical gains... is getting into the strategic layers yet.
“It does not change the equation, it is not a decisive victory. But it sends another signal to Hezbollah, Iran and others,” he said.
 

 


Hezbollah threatens Israel with more attacks if Lebanon assault continues

Hezbollah threatens Israel with more attacks if Lebanon assault continues
Updated 14 October 2024
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Hezbollah threatens Israel with more attacks if Lebanon assault continues

Hezbollah threatens Israel with more attacks if Lebanon assault continues
  • Drone attack on base near Israel’s Haifa killed four soldiers on Sunday 
  • Escalation in Lebanon has killed over 1,300, displaced more than a million

BEIRUTU, Lebanon: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threatened Israel with more attacks if its offensive in Lebanon continued, after a drone attack on a base near Israel’s Haifa Sunday killed four soldiers.
Israel’s military said four soldiers were killed in the attack, the deadliest such assault on an Israeli base since September 23, when Israel increased its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah “promises the enemy that what it witnessed today in southern Haifa is nothing compared to what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our... people,” it said.
In what it described as a “complex” operation, the Iran-backed group said it had launched dozens of missiles toward Nahariya and Acre north of Haifa “with the goal of keeping Israeli defense systems busy.”
At the same time, it launched “squadrons of various drones, some of which were being used for the first time, toward various areas in Acre and Haifa, where they were able to get past Israeli air defense radars without being detected” and hit the training camp in Binyamina south of Haifa, it added.
They “exploded in the rooms where dozens of officers and soldiers of the Israeli enemy were present.”
After claiming the Binyamina attack, Hezbollah said it had launched missiles at a “maintenance and rehabilitation base” of the army, also south of Haifa.
The incident comes two days after air raid sirens sounded in central Israel after two aerial drones entered the country from Lebanon. At least one building north of Tel Aviv was damaged during the incident.
Hezbollah has been regularly firing rockets and drones into Israel for more than a year, but has reached further since the fighting escalated in late September.
Israel’s air defenses, including the Iron Dome system, have intercepted most of the projectiles, with few casualties caused by strikes or falling debris.
The escalation in Lebanon has killed more than 1,300 people and displaced over a million more from their homes, according to official figures.
 


Hezbollah threatens Israel with more attacks if Lebanon assault continues

Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, near Acre in northern Israel on October 11, 2024.
Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, near Acre in northern Israel on October 11, 2024.
Updated 14 October 2024
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Hezbollah threatens Israel with more attacks if Lebanon assault continues

Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, near Acre in northern Israel on October 11, 2024.
  • After claiming the Binyamina attack, Hezbollah said it had launched missiles at a “maintenance and rehabilitation base” of the army, also south of Haifa

BEIRUTU, Lebanon: Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threatened Israel with more attacks if its offensive in Lebanon continued, after a drone attack on a base near Israel’s Haifa Sunday killed four soldiers.
Israel’s military said four soldiers were killed in the attack, the deadliest such assault on an Israeli base since September 23, when Israel increased its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah “promises the enemy that what it witnessed today in southern Haifa is nothing compared to what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our... people,” it said.
In what it described as a “complex” operation, the Iran-backed group said it had launched dozens of missiles toward Nahariya and Acre north of Haifa “with the goal of keeping Israeli defense systems busy.”
At the same time, it launched “squadrons of various drones, some of which were being used for the first time, toward various areas in Acre and Haifa, where they were able to get past Israeli air defense radars without being detected” and hit the training camp in Binyamina south of Haifa, it added.
They “exploded in the rooms where dozens of officers and soldiers of the Israeli enemy were present.”
After claiming the Binyamina attack, Hezbollah said it had launched missiles at a “maintenance and rehabilitation base” of the army, also south of Haifa.
The incident comes two days after air raid sirens sounded in central Israel after two aerial drones entered the country from Lebanon. At least one building north of Tel Aviv was damaged during the incident.
Hezbollah has been regularly firing rockets and drones into Israel for more than a year, but has reached further since the fighting escalated in late September.
Israel’s air defenses, including the Iron Dome system, have intercepted most of the projectiles, with few casualties caused by strikes or falling debris.
The escalation in Lebanon has killed more than 1,300 people and displaced over a million more from their homes, according to official figures.
 

 


Israel military shows journalists area of operations in south Lebanon

Israel military shows journalists area of operations in south Lebanon
Updated 14 October 2024
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Israel military shows journalists area of operations in south Lebanon

Israel military shows journalists area of operations in south Lebanon
  • The military has escorted staff from several media organizations into southern Lebanon since Israel began its ground assault on September 30

EBANON-ISRAEL BORDER, Lebanon: The Israeli military on Sunday took a group of journalists across the border into south Lebanon, and showed what it claimed were three Hezbollah positions including two tunnels, just a few hundred meters from the border.
The Israeli soldiers escorting the media team, which included an AFP photographer, through the mountainous and densely forested terrain said they were near the Lebanese town of Naqura near the border.
The soldiers did not specify how far they were inside southern Lebanon, nor did the journalists see any other people in the area during their brief embed that lasted for about 90 minutes.
The movement of journalists was restricted by the military to a limited area, while the photos and video footage taken during the embed had to be approved by the military before publication.
One of the tunnels was, according to the military, just a few hundred meters (yards) from a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) post.
Israel has repeatedly asked UNIFIL, deployed along Lebanon’s southern border since 1978, to abandon its positions since it escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in September.
UNIFIL has rejected the requests.
“This is how you build an operational attack outpost. And that’s what we found here, just 300 yards from the UN post,” said Lt. Col. Rotem, an Israeli commander accompanying the journalists, who gave only one name for operational purposes.
The journalists were also shown a ditch located amid a cluster of trees, which the military claimed was a Hezbollah post.
The AFP photographer saw Israeli military vehicles crossing the border into Lebanon near Naqura, where troops had cut down trees near the entrance to one of the tunnels.
The military has escorted staff from several media organizations into southern Lebanon since Israel began its ground assault on September 30.
Israel stepped up its campaign in Lebanon on September 23, nearly a year after Hezbollah began launching cross-border attacks in what it said was support for its Palestinian ally, Hamas.


WHO, Red Crescent resupply two hospitals in north Gaza: WHO

WHO, Red Crescent resupply two hospitals in north Gaza: WHO
Updated 14 October 2024
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WHO, Red Crescent resupply two hospitals in north Gaza: WHO

WHO, Red Crescent resupply two hospitals in north Gaza: WHO
  • The resupply mission also delivered 20,000 liters (5,300 gallons) of fuel to keep Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda operational, and 23,000 liters of fuel were delivered to Al-Sahaba Hospital, along with 800 units of blood and essential medicines and supplies

GENEVA: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Sunday that a WHO-Palestine Red Crescent operation had managed to resupply two hospitals in northern Gaza.
“WHO and partners finally managed to reach Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba hospitals yesterday after 9 attempts this past week,” he posted on social media platform X.
“The missions were completed amid ongoing hostilities,” he added.
He said drivers had been subjected to “humiliating security screening” and even temporarily detained at a checkpoint, “which is unacceptable.”
The WHO regularly criticizes the obstacles the Israeli authorities put in the way of these supply and patient evacuation missions.
It did so again on Friday during a news briefing in Geneva specifically on the subject of this relief mission to the northern Gaza Strip.
“One-off missions are not enough. There is a sustained need for resupplying hospitals to keep them functioning,” Tedros said, reiterating his call “for sustained facilitation of humanitarian missions and ensuring safety for humanitarian staff; and for a ceasefire.”
According to the WHO, 13 patients in critical condition were transferred from Kamal Adwan hospital to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
“The hospital is overwhelmed and still serving around 60 in-patients and receiving at least 50-70 injured daily,” Tedros said.
Six other patients who had been transferred earlier from Al-Awda Hospital to Kamal Adwan were also taken to Al-Shifa, along with those accompanying them.
The resupply mission also delivered 20,000 liters (5,300 gallons) of fuel to keep Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda operational, and 23,000 liters of fuel were delivered to Al-Sahaba Hospital, along with 800 units of blood and essential medicines and supplies.
The fuel is mainly used to run the hospitals’ generators to ensure power supply.
The hospital infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip is very fragile after a year of war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, with many facilities having been hit by shelling or fighting.
The Israeli military accuses Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and carried out the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel that triggered the war, of operating under the cover of these buildings, which normally enjoy increased protection under the rules of war.
 


Iran in diplomatic push to seek halt in violence

raqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) welcomes his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi (C) in Baghdad on October 13, 2024.
raqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) welcomes his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi (C) in Baghdad on October 13, 2024.
Updated 13 October 2024
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Iran in diplomatic push to seek halt in violence

raqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) welcomes his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi (C) in Baghdad on October 13, 2024.
  • At a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Araghchi said in Iraq that his country was “fully prepared for a war situation ... but we do not want war, we want peace”

TEHRAN: Iran held a series of diplomatic talks on Sunday, with President Masoud Pezeshkian seeking support from France’s Emmanuel Macron for a ceasefire in Lebanon, and the foreign minister visiting Iraq while on a regional tour.
According to a statement on Iran’s presidential website, Pezeshkian and Macron discussed ways to secure a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as the Iranian leader condemned Israel’s “crimes” in Gaza and Lebanon.
Macron’s office said he called on Pezeshkian to support “a general de-escalation and to use its influence in this direction with the destabilising actors that enjoy its support.”
Iran backs Hamas, which is battling Israel in Gaza, and Hezbollah, which is fighting Israel in Lebanon.
Israel has vowed to retaliate against an Iranian missile strike on October 1, raising fears of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon morphing into an all-out regional conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was meanwhile in Iraq on Sunday, a neighbor and ally of his government, as part of a series of visits in the region for talks on the wars in Lebanon and Gaza.
Araghchi said there would be “no red lines” in defending the country’s people and interests, adding that efforts would continue to “contain an all-out war in our region.”
Iran has said its launch of 200 missiles on Israel earlier this month was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-backed militant leaders in the region and a general in its Revolutionary Guards.
At a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Araghchi said in Iraq that his country was “fully prepared for a war situation ... but we do not want war, we want peace.”
He also said Iran would continue consultations “to prevent the escalation of tension in the region and to work for peace” and a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
After his visit to Iraq, Araghchi headed to Oman, IRNA state news agency reported.
On Thursday, he had been in Qatar, where he met Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose government has been mediating talks aimed at securing a Gaza ceasefire and has also called for a truce in Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Araghchi met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, during his trip to the Kingdom.