A year after Israel's pager attack, can battered Hezbollah rebound in Lebanon?
The double explosion of wireless devices that struck across Lebanon simultaneously last September left Hezbollah shocked and seemingly unable to regain the standing it once enjoyed.
BEIRUT/NEW YORK — Once considered Lebanon’s strongest non-state armed actor, and even more powerful than the Lebanese army, the Shiite Hezbollah group is still reeling from its war with Israel and the two waves of explosions of wireless communication devices that swept across Lebanon last year, killing nearly 40 people and injuring 3,500 others.
On Sept. 17-18, 2024, handheld radios and pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across several areas of the country — particularly in Hezbollah strongholds such as Beirut’s southern suburbs (Dahiyeh), the south and the Bekaa region.
At least 12 people, including two children, were killed and more than 2,750 were injured on the first day, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Another 25 people were killed and over 600 others were wounded the next day, including civilians, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Hezbollah confirmed at the time that at least 20 of its fighters were killed.
