Israeli broadcaster says Tel Aviv and Washington coordinated explosions in Lebanon

By Middle East Monitor

The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority Kan revealed on Wednesday what it described as “coordination” between Israel and the US regarding the explosion of wireless communication devices used by Hezbollah members and paramedics in Lebanon, despite a denial by the authorities in Washington.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 26 people were killed and more than 3,250 others were wounded as a result of the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers and walkie talkies across Lebanon.

“In the past 24 hours, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with his American counterpart [Lloyd] Austin,” said Kan, which pointed out that the first call between Gallant and Austin took place on Tuesday, minutes before the first wave of pager explosions occurred in Lebanon. “The second call was made before the second wave of explosions.”

On Wednesday, the US denied involvement in the pager explosions, saying it had no prior knowledge of them. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdel Atty in Cairo to say that, “With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents.”

In a related context, an Israeli source familiar with the two waves of explosions in Lebanon told Kan, “This is a step that complements the first wave to create a feeling among Hezbollah that it is being pursued and hunted.” The source added that, in Israel, they are considering that the situation could develop into a major campaign in the north. “We are on our way to a regional war on a scale that we have not seen in the past 11 months.”

According to Kan, Israel and Lebanon are now closer than ever to a third war. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out the explosions, and threatened Tel Aviv with a “severe retaliation.”