Over the past year, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have been simmering, with cross-border skirmishes becoming a regular occurrence in Lebanon. However, the recent exploding pagers attack on Tuesday has marked a significant escalation in the conflict, surpassing even the assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr in late July.
While Israel has chosen to remain silent on the matter, Hezbollah has openly accused Israel of being responsible for the attack, a claim echoed by the Lebanese government. The coordinated explosion of hundreds of pagers across Lebanon is seen as a strategic blow to Hezbollah, likely orchestrated by Israel.
This incident adds to a series of setbacks for Hezbollah, following the assassination of Shukr. In response to that attack, Hezbollah launched a retaliatory strike on Israel, which was largely intercepted by Israeli defenses. Now, with potentially thousands of Hezbollah militants injured in the pager explosions, the group faces a significant setback, exposing vulnerabilities in its intelligence and communication networks.
The question now arises: how will a weakened Hezbollah respond to this latest blow from Israel? The group's ability to retaliate effectively is called into question, as it grapples with the aftermath of the pager attacks and the broader implications for its operations.
