Dozens of Hezbollah members reportedly injured by exploding pagers
Source: BBC.com
David Gritten,BBC News
Dozens of members of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement have reportedly been injured after handheld pagers they use to communicate exploded.
Lebanons state-run National News Agency said the incident took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which is a stronghold of the Iran-backed armed group, and several other regions.
A Reuters journalist reported seeing 10 Hezbollah members bleeding from wounds in southern Beirut.
A Hezbollah official meanwhile told the news agency that the incident constituted the "biggest security breach yet".
entire article
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7xnelvpepo
GB_RN
(2,928 posts)Thoughts and prayers. NOT!
irisblue
(33,742 posts)Beastly Boy
(10,607 posts)joshcryer
(62,329 posts)Fascinating how they were able to distribute thousands of modified pagers to them though!
Beastly Boy
(10,607 posts)manufacturing the pagers, or their distribution, or both.
irisblue
(33,742 posts)in computer software of all types.[BSOD-Blue Screen of Death]
I am mildly surprised that it just took so long for one military group to do this to another military group publicly.
I do recall seeing a map of Apple watch wearers/fit bit wearers during the Afghanistan war with troops running routes, I assumed that the US Military stopped that on realizing what a dangerous map that was
With the Internet of Things often available on our smart phones, a talented hacker could lock domestic violence survivors in their homes. Research & articles are being published on this fact.
1-Smart, Internet-connected devicesthe so-called Internet of Things (IoT)pose significant threats to victim-survivors of domestic and family violence (DFV). IoT systems have been used to abuse, harass, monitor, intimidate, and gaslight victim-survivors.Jan 2, 2024
https://journals.sagepub.com doi
2-https://www.californialawreview.org/print/a-domestic-violence-dystopia-abuse-via-the-internet-of-things-and-remedies-under-current-law
Safeguarding the Internet of Things for Victim-Survivors of Domestic and ..
irisblue
(33,742 posts)BEIRUT, Sept 17 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources told Reuters.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the "biggest security breach" the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.
Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza war erupted last October, the worst such escalation in years.
snip-:Regional broadcasters carrying CCTV footage which showed what appeared to be a small handheld device placed next to a grocery store cashier where an individual was paying spontaneously exploding. In other footage, an explosion appeared to knock out someone standing at a fruit stand at a market area"
Source- https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dozens-hezbollah-members-wounded-lebanon-when-pagers-exploded-sources-witnesses-2024-09-17/
AZLD4Candidate
(6,118 posts)This is just another act of brutal, racist genocide committed by that rogue apartheid state!
mcar
(43,191 posts)Just innocent freedom fighters minding their own business.
Ray Bruns
(4,400 posts)ck4829
(35,596 posts)When a push of a button could do the job, like what happened with Hezbollah's fighters.
irisblue
(33,742 posts)Link to tweet
from the article cited in the tweet..."Irans semi-official Fars news agency, close to the countrys powerful Revolutionary Guard, said on its Telegram channel that Mojtaba Amani, Irans ambassador in Lebanon, has a superficial injury and is under observation at a hospital. Another semi-official Mehr news agency, also on its Telegram channel, reported that Amani was wounded by a pager explosion."
rollin74
(2,061 posts)Beastly Boy
(10,607 posts)Sorry, couldn't resist the sarcasm.
But seriously, this is something new. It appears that regular armed forces are poised to widely adopt asymmetric warfare methods not covered by the Geneva Conventions in addition to conventional warfare which is covered.
I would imagine that this will require extensive amendments to the Geneva Conventions, to cover all types of asymmetric warfare which has lately become a favorite among various terrorist groups in their large scale operations.
irisblue
(33,742 posts)widely deployed& publicized today.
EX500rider
(11,245 posts)I assume much harder to pull off
Beastly Boy
(10,607 posts)There were reports of Russia's cyber attacks on the US as early as 1999. I am not even sure that remotely exploding pagers can be classified as a cyber attack, and remote detonations using an electrical spark date back to WW1.
What I think is fundamentally new in this instance is the the massiveness of a cyber attack combined with targeting enemy combatants specifically as is the case in conventional warfare.
The reason I brought up the Geneva Conventions is because it addresses conventional warfare in great detail, while leaving cyber warfare deliberately unaddressed. As far as I am aware, the Conventions do not address how cyber weapons apply to combatants, which seems to be the case in the present situation.
rollin74
(2,061 posts)according to Lebanon's Health Minister
200 injured are in critical condition according to n12 News Israel
maxsolomon
(34,506 posts)That's some skullduggery.
sarisataka
(20,334 posts)to have so many pagers explode on the same day...
rollin74
(2,061 posts)EX500rider
(11,245 posts)onandup
(558 posts)I'll be interested to find out how many casualties were actually fighters.
former9thward
(33,095 posts)onandup
(558 posts)We've yet to learn how these were targeted, or if they were targeted. Let's see how many casualties were Hezbollah fighters.
EX500rider
(11,245 posts)I doubt many non-affiliated civilians would be using pagers these days.
And of course Hezbollah is going to act like they were all civilian casualties, no downside of them doing that, just the sympathy vote from gullible westerners and people are already looking for things to be outraged about concerning Israel
Coventina
(27,614 posts)So, this was a very targeted attack.
sarisataka
(20,334 posts)up to and including existing?
MarineCombatEngineer
(13,729 posts)maxsolomon
(34,506 posts)9/10?
You're not going to get that information from Hezbollah and they're the only ones that could know.
MarineCombatEngineer
(13,729 posts)Or you're serious, so, if that's the case, then this applies.
MarineCombatEngineer
(13,729 posts)I was wondering how long it would take.
Beastly Boy
(10,607 posts)All the information that is available today suggests only Hezbollah operatives had access to these pagers.
I will concede, though, a few may have been commandeered by armed Hamas operatives.
EllieBC
(3,227 posts)is provocation. Some members of this board certainly do.
AloeVera
(1,577 posts)But I see how expressing that opinion will get you flamed. Next, you'll be called a Hamas lover and terrorist supporter and then I'll welcome you to the club!
But seriously, to deny this was a provocation is, well...whatever.
Now comes retaliation. Just in time for the ground invasion and aerial assault by Israel which was already in the works.
I think it was done for 2 reasons. One, as others have mentioned, knock-out of communications in advance of an invasion and "softening up" of capacity. Two, to provide the pretext - after Hezbollah retaliation - for the ground invasion. As in " See, we have no choice but to invade". Meanwhile, the plans and decision to invade have already been made.
So it's a dishonest provocation in pursuit of a larger war. Frightening and despicable.
Of course no one mentions that there is already a solution to stop the rockets and return Israelis to their homes. It is of course a ceasefire in Gaza. But Netanyahu and his lunatic coalition do not want peace, only a big piece of Gaza and reoccupation of southern Lebanon. Maybe draw in the U.S. just in time for an October Surprise.
Sheer lunacy.
Beastly Boy
(10,607 posts)what exactly is Israel trying to provoke Hezbollah into doing?
More rockets fired at Israel's civilians? Hezbollah done that, so Israel is too late with provoking that.
Indiscriminately killing children? Hezbollah done that too, so Israel can't possibly provoke them into doing what they had already done.
Pledge to destroy Israel? Well, Hezbollah doesn't require a provocation for that, they do it with glee and pleasure absent of any provocation.
So what exactly does Israel intend to provoke Hamas into doing that they have not already done?...
Crickets.
No, this was not a provocation, it was an opening salvo, long overdue.
If you hadn't noticed, Hezbollah had been firing rockets into Israel since before Oct. 7, no provocation required, thank you. 100,000 Israeli civilians had been displaced. THAT was the provocation. A provocation that required immediate retaliation which Israel delayed for too long. And now, nearly a year after being provoked, Israel has had enough. Israel wants its land back, free of harassment from Hezbollah.
In the face of Hezbollah's continued belligerence, Israel has taken the first step. And it was spectacular. A brigade's worth of Hezbollah militants taken out of commission in a matter of minutes, without a single IDF soldier crossing the border. I can see how this might upset you and your hopelessly contrived narrative.
And what is your solution to stop Hezbollah rockets from being fired into Israel? Oh yeah, a cease fire that Hamas has no intention of signing or honoring in exchange for the hostages that Hamas is holding at gunpoint. As if a cease fire with Hamas ever stopped Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel before.
Brilliant!
DJ Synikus Makisimus
(542 posts)This would appear to be a rapidly escalating story. I'm tracking at The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/sep/17/middle-east-crisis-live-netanyahu-expands-gaza-war-aims-blinken-heads-to-egypt
I'm really curious to know how Israel may have rigged pagers headed to market in neighboring Arab nations, and why they exploded today.
mcar
(43,191 posts)Think. Again.
(15,606 posts)...considering Isreal is the creator and distributor of the Pegasus spyware.
Mysterian
(5,057 posts)There's a hezbollah tech purchaser in a bit of hot water.
EllieBC
(3,227 posts)Anyway. Hockeys just about back!
prodigitalson
(2,747 posts)Zorro
(16,066 posts)Hezbollah's official brand of underwear.