The US claimed on Tuesday that it was unaware of Israel’s plans to blow up thousands of pagers inside Lebanon, an attack that killed at least nine people and wounded thousands.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller insisted the US “was not aware of this operation and was not involved.” He said the US was still “gathering information” about the coordinated attack.
Later on Tuesday, US officials who were “briefed on the operation” confirmed to The New York Times that Israel was behind the attack. They said Israel planted explosives in pagers that Hezbollah ordered from a company based in Taiwan.
The Israeli attack came after the Israeli Security Cabinet added the return of displaced Israelis to their homes near the border with Lebanon as one of Israel’s war goals. Israeli officials told Axios that the purpose of this decision was to signal that Israel was going to turn its attention from Gaza to Lebanon.
The pager attack also came after the US reportedly warned Israel against launching a wider war in Lebanon. But the US has also pledged to support Israel if the situation escalates into a full-blown war and provided intelligence support when Israel and Hezbollah traded heavy fire in August.
Hezbollah is vowing that it will retaliate to the indiscriminate Israeli attack, which killed an eight-year-old girl, saying Israel will receive its “fair punishment.”
The constant flow of US military aid to Israel has supported Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza as well as its escalations throughout the region. The US also defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April that was provoked by the Israeli bombing of Iran’s consulate in Damascus and has vowed to do so again if Iran responds to the assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.
I no longer believe anyone from either Israel or the US. Oh, did I miss Great Britain? Oops, I did.
Yeah, well they've been lying so consistently and reliably and found out so many times when they're lies are not of the usual self-serving, face-saving, obviousness-denying transparancy we become accostumed to, it is only when I suspect they're telling the truth that really raises my suspicion.
It is much like Pravda in the Soviet era, you don't read the news to find out what is actually happening, you read the news solely to find out what the government wants you to think.
I actually do believe they did not know. The master doesn't tell the servant his plans, and the servant doesn't ask.
The Zionists have done this in the past with individual phones, but this a new diabolical approach to their evil.
Yes, I guess the polio didn't spread fast enough.
How is killing or hurting known terrorists evil? These attacks were targeted at Hezbollah fighters who have been firing at Israel for 10 months.
Why are you calling the Lebanese terrorists? Do you call yourself a terrorist for supporting Israeli terrorism? ?
And healthcare workers. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2kn10xxldo
https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2019/06/why-hospital-pager-withstood-test-time
And anyone else who ended up with one of the sabotaged pagers. But you are a Zionist fuck wit so you wouldn't care.
Certainly Hezbollah didn’t order new pagers identifying they are the purchasers. So what has happened there is a recent compromised person or persons in Hezbollah, now how did they get access to those devices? Many pagers use lithium-ion batteries, and these can explode if they are tampered with to overheat—a process known as thermal runaway. Ambient electrical noise is one of several ways in which thermal runaway can be caused.
Getting access to the pagers was probably the easy part with a Taiwanese or European accomplice. But clearly there was an infiltrator who knew the plans to use them. Why else would they trust pagers from a US puppet state?
They opened an undetonated pager and there was an eraser with explosive material, allegedly. I didn’t save the link.
CNN reporting made it clear this wasn't just exploding batteries, explosives were added next to the batteries.
I have a question for the comment moderation especially as regards this attack and the massive comments section on the main article today.
Why are Israeli hasbara propagandists (possibly paid) allowed to pepper the comments section of the site with hateful rhetoric to defend an apartheid state that's committing a genocide? "Free speech" isn't a defense here, I'm sure that moderation regularly consists of taking down actual anti-Jewish hate speech on a regular basis. Just as Nazis are free to go have conversations on their corners of the web, the Israeli propagandists are as well.
I don't see a difference between a Holocaust denier, fan or apologist and a Gaza genocide denier, fan or apologist.
No one thinks any of these comments are intended to actually get a single person to support Israel. The point is to derail discussion among people of good will who might otherwise have more fruitful discussion among themselves. It works like a charm, and it works by taking advantage of websites extending platform courtesy to Israel supporters even as Israel targets and eliminates (what is it now, 180?) journalists for speech, snipes American citizens in the head for peaceful protest, etc.
Just delete like we would Nazi comments. Pariahs belong in the trash.
Let the monsters identify themselves.
You are inviting censorship in the name of righteous indignation. Which is natural, I guess. The proponents of censorship always have the best intentions.
If you want free thought and free speech, you need to tolerate speech that you don't like. That includes speech that is downright obnoxious. And includes trolls.
And the most effective way to deal with trolls is very simple: don't feed them. It works like a charm.
I upvote you but I feed the trolls. It's like a sickness.
If them-there Hasbro trolls ARE on here (and two names IMMEDIATELY come to mind) AND are getting paid, the joke's on whoever's paying them.
ASI cointelpro agents would be better off using 2010-era AI for free, than paying The Two I Have In Mind to crank out such unconvincing and stupid pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian tropes and cliches.
I actively feel sorry for you Americans on here, whose tax dollars went to Tel Aviv by way of Washington to pay people to write s**t so terrible that not even modern Hollywood would green-light such writing in a script for a $400 million project.
Just use the ignore option, if you don't care for a person's view point. Myself, I don't block because I like to read the view point of different people.
“I don’t see a difference between a Holocaust denier, fan or apologist and a Gaza genocide denier, fan or apologist.”
If I’m instructed by my bosses that the Gaza genocide is now an historical fact accepted by all except those looking for an opportunity to hate on a particular ethnic group in public while disguised as “historical truth-tellers,” rather than a debatable claim, and to be treated as such vis a vis the site’s guidelines, I will implement that directive.
I’ve not been so instructed.
Thanks for the quick reply. Now good luck to anyone determining whether or not what's happening in Gaza is more or less debatable than the Holocaust.
What's amazing is that now that the US/NATO are fully behind open, proud Nazis like Azov, it has become impossible in mainstream social media to reference the original Holocaust in the 'wrong' context, that being the Ukrainian one. My 9 year old Facebook account was permanently banned a few months ago because I posted one comment on a paid ad to raise money for a wounded Ukrainian soldier.
That soldier according to the text was from a well known Nazi unit that had been trained in France. The elected member of the National Assembly for that region where the training occurred filed a protest with the French government that this soldiers unit was openly displaying Nazi symbols and photos of Hitler, illegal even for citizens in France, and she didn't want them in her neck of the woods being handed guns. The reference link I used for this was the English language Wikipedia link for the unit. My account was GONE, no appeal possible, 15 minutes later.
The mainstream social media discourse 'community standard' now appears to be that you need to be pro-genocide, in 1944 or now.
This is why you shouldn’t want to agitate for censorship.
It will inevitably become the biggest tool for governments to block truth and unpopular opinion.
This is insane. Buy no products from Taiwan. I hope their stock tanks.
GUMBY @gumby4christ
4h
The pagers Israel exploded were made by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. The pagers were reportedly imported 5 months ago (mid-April 2024), which lines up closely with a Knesset delegation visit to Taiwan during which Tsai pledged to "deepen" partnership between the 2 countries
Séamus Malekafzali @Seamus_Malek
7h
Al Jazeera is saying that the pagers in the Israeli attack were indeed packed with explosives and were imported into Lebanese territory *five months ago*, and Axios says that the decision was made by the Israeli state to detonate the pagers a week ago.
What company??
Taiwan’s Gold Apollo says did not make pagers used in Lebanon blasts
Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm that manufactures pagers, did not make the devices used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday, the company’s founder Hsu Ching-Kuang told reporters on Wednesday.
Hsu said the pagers used in the explosions were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taiwanese firm’s brand, Reuters added.
We reported earlier on a New York Times article that claimed Hezbollah had ordered the pagers from Gold Apollo, citing US officials briefed on the operation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-injured-in-lebanon-pager-explosions?update=3185669
… and in any case, no company would want such horrible publicity associated with their product.
Gold Apollo in Taiwan will probably be changing its name very soon. No one will want to be seen holding a pager with that brand on it. And the company in Hungary that had a licensing agreement with Gold Apollo will probably just evaporate.
Silver Gemini ? Platinum Orion ? Palladium Mercury ?
(there's still more precious metals on the Periodic Table but I'm out of NASA space programs)
I wonder if Israel set up a dummy corporation just for this purpose?
Taiwan sells pagers to Israel and Israel ships to enemies.
That is what they did…! Add that to the despicable zionist resume…!
Do you have a link? It doesn’t render Taiwan innocent, IMO.
So my Gold Star brand TV should be fine, then.
That's not how it works. According to Elijah Magnier, the pagers were shipped through various countries and ports before reaching Lebanon. They undoubtedly were interdicted by Israel who modified them with small amounts of explosives before shipping them on.. Magnier says he knows how this was done and will report on it. Follow his Twitter or watch his regular interviews with Rachel Blevins on Youtube.
I'll emphasize again that this was a provocation, not a serious attack. It's unlikely that anyone serious in Hezbollah was killed, and in any event Hezbollah has 60-100,000 active duty members so they are seriously affected. They are more affected by the need to adjust their communications security than the attack itself, but they will adapt.
The sole purpose of this Israeli strike was to provoke Hezbollah into doing something that Netanyahu could use to justify an attack on Hezbollah and thus give the US an excuse to attack Hezbollah as well.
As I said in my recent Substack, Israel will just keep bombing people in the region until someone gets tired of it and goes all in, and then they will have their wider war, which is the goal of this entire conflict.
https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/6558
Taiwan just met with Israel. Taiwan sold to an intermediary, that was Israel (IMO), with their brand on it. No quality control checks or oversight? Taiwan is guilty too.
“Taiwan” didn’t sell the pagers. A Taiwanese firm did. And the explosives were almost certainly put in the pagers after the sale.
The Company claimed that a European country made the pagers, tracked down to Budapest. BAC:
NBC has reported it had spoken to Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono, who confirmed her company worked with Gold Apollo. However, when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said: “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
It sounds like shell companies or pass throughs. And it’s a “coincidence” that Taiwan met with the Israeli parliament 5 months ago.
Sorry, I smell a rat.
Yes I know, but they allowed brand name use.
As if the Israelis cared about what the US tells them. The US has to pay the bills, nothing else.
So since Israel and Lebanon are not officially at war, doesn't this make the Pager Incident™ a de facto act of state terrorism? Sending out hundreds of bomb-laden pagers into the wild without an exact record of who got what is setting a very dangerous precedent for the citizens of all nations.
At least Apple sells its newest iPhones knowing they'll all be useless in 18-24 months.
Lebanon has allowed and continues to allow Hezbollah to fire missiles and rockets into Israel. Lebanon is responsible for these missiles. Thus Israel counter attack on Lebanon which targeted Hezbollah is act of self defensive.
Can Israel do same to Americnas or Germans ? Isarel take a lot of money and other free stuff from US .Will US be a victim if US decides not to continue?
"US Insists It Was Unaware of Israel’s Plans…" That was either misinformed disinformation or a poor attempt at humor.
This act is cowardice at its lowest point….!
How is attacking terrorists an act of cowardice?
Biden/Harris Administration know nothing, they are too busy talking about people eating dogs being a lie and the Republicans worrying about the dogs that were eaten. That folks is our Government, who protect the Rabid Dogs in Israel and not a TEAR for slaughtered children, unarmed civilians, the Genocide of Palestinians. So our Government being unaware, is the same as Israel always saying it was a mistake, nothing but LIES coming from our Zionist Government. Vote them OUT, every Zionist in our Government is a SPY for Israel and the ENEMY of our Republic. Vote OUT every Dem/Rep Zionist!
It’s impossible to vote out Zionists in the duopoly.
Then we are well and truly fucked, though I wouldn't disagree.
Well, if the cliche told by parents in the early 1990s still holds, it's only doctors and drug-dealers that use pagers. So we should be suspicious of your 15-year-old friend who has one.
They should buy direct from China. But then shipping pirates?
Does anyone know how you can buy a Chinese phone in the US?
From UK…!
https://www.gsmarena.com/
You close to the Canadian border ? C'mon up – there's usually Huawei's and the like selling at our inferior-to-yours Wal-Mart's.
And iPhones. Those are "hencho en Chine" so definitionally…
No, not close.
Uncle: Do you happen know where in Canada they sell Canadian iPhone and ship to US…? I already know about eBay sellers with huge markups…!
Sell AND ship ? Unfortunately no; I’m just thinking of brick-and-mortars like Costco and Wal-Mart et. al.
How far from Canadian territory do you live ? (Am still annoyed we didn’t take on the Turks & Caicos islands when they were shopping around for a new protectorate; that might’ve been closer if you’re Southern US)(Plus nice tropical vacation for you)
Thanks…
Not an affiliate link or anything:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=huawei+phone&rh=n%3A2335752011%2Cp_123%3A32374&dc&ds=v1%3AT47L4swrWbRhc7UN6auMv9jBJgiZ5aVUynWuoWYjBCo&crid=36TJGVEI2CWTR&qid=1726684811&rnid=85457740011&sprefix=huawei+phone%2Caps%2C325&ref=sr_nr_p_123_1
Thanks Knapp
Didn't Know and Wasn't Involved about this zionist Israel new terrorist act without condemning it is the direct complicity of US on this coward act of terrorism…!
So then the CIA is fucking useless/incompetent or they are all liars. Pick one.
They don’t gaf about how horrendously, blatantly evil they look but there are still masses of braindead zombies saying the US is a force for good.
And no one in media will press authorities on this terrorist act. They allow them to spew bald faced lies with no pushback or outrage at the civilian deaths, including children.
“We’re waiting for Israel to investigate (and declare themselves innocent)”~ Count Smirkula.
Our so-called government has soiled itself – all for some dollars and the illusion of power…
I am thinking it's more the fact that the Master doesn't tell the servant what he's up to, and the servant doesn't ask.
Hmm.
So much for actual “security” and “intelligence”.
Edward Snowden @Snowden
What Israel has just done is, via *any* method, reckless.
They blew up countless numbers of people who were driving (meaning cars out of control), shopping (your children are in the stroller standing behind him in the checkout line), et cetera. Indistinguishable from terrorism.
As information comes in about the exploding beepers in
Lebanon, it seems now more likely than not to be implanted explosives, not a hack. Why? Too many consistent, very serious injuries. If it were overheated batteries exploding, you'd expect many more small fires & misfires.
What can I say? The uncontrollable hatred of the Israeli people has turned them into obscene monsters.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c73c30e45a46b6b30225bd491081aac8a692be24256c219e5773642434139dd0.jpg
I believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny as well. However, I don't believe the detritus endlessly spewed by proven liars.