“The pager operation and the elimination of Nasrallah were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defense establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon,” Netanyahu said during Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, according to Israeli media reports.
His spokesman, Omer Dostri, acknowledged that the prime minister indeed “confirmed that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon” that killed nearly 40 people and wounded thousands of people.
Beirut has announced that it had filed a complaint with the United Nations’ labour agency over the deadly attacks on communication devices across Lebanon.
On September 17, thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon. The following day, hundreds of walkie-talkies detonated in a similar wave of blasts. The attacks killed at least 42 people and injured over 3,500, including women and children.
A week after the pager attacks, Israel announced a military operation in Lebanon.
New Defence Minister Israel Katz has claimed that Israel has “defeated” Hezbollah, and eliminating its leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah was the “crowning” achievement.
Israel’s plan now is to “change the security reality in the north”, he continued, adding, “The blows we inflicted defeated Hezbollah and the elimination of Nasrallah is the crowning jewel”.
The comments come as Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into Israel and Israeli ground forces struggle to take territory in southern Lebanon.
Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has also approved the expansion of the ground invasion of southern Lebanon, state broadcaster Kan reported
Israel’s military began “limited, localized, and targeted” ground raids into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah on October 1, days after launching heavy airstrikes throughout the country.
Israel’s military and security officials considered announcing the end of the ground offensive last week, Kan reported, but Halevi green-lighted new orders to expand the assault, which could include thousands more soldiers.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began in October 2023, according to the health ministry, including over 2,000 since September 23.
