Pager blasts an 'Israeli terrorist attack': Lebanese Labor Minister
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Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram declares the Israeli pager aggression on Lebanon a terrorist attack.
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An ambulance carries wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, arrived at the American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP)
The pager blasts affecting thousands of Lebanese citizens were a terrorist attack perpetrated by the Israeli occupation, Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram affirmed on Wednesday.
"The attack in Lebanon is a deliberate crime and a terrorist act. Israel committed it after it failed militarily, so it was forced to resort to intimidation of the civilian population through psychological warfare, but it struck the wrong chord," Bayram warned, speaking to Sputnik.
Twelve people were killed and at least 2,800 others were injured on Tuesday after pagers simultaneously went off and then detonated across the country.
The New York Times, citing US and other officials briefed on the attack, reported that "Israel" planted explosive material in a recent batch of Taiwanese-brand pagers imported to Lebanon, carrying out an operation against Hezbollah.
Pagers ordered by Hezbollah from Gold Apollo were tampered with before arriving in the county, some officials stated. Most pagers were the AR924 models, but the shipment also included three other models from the company, according to NYT.
Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo said the pagers were produced and developed by a European company, CEO Hsu Chin-Kuang said on Wednesday.
"The pagers were both developed and produced abroad, so they have nothing to do with Taiwan," the director was quoted as saying by Taiwanese news portal CTWANT.
Read more: Were the exploding pagers in Lebanon part of a larger Israeli blunder?
