On September 22, Israeli President Isaac Herzog unequivocally denied any connection between Israel and the recent explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies attributed to Hezbollah. Herzog stated that Hezbollah has “many enemies” and emphasized that Israel has the inherent right to protect itself. The Israeli authorities had previously remained silent on the explosion incidents.
In an interview with Sky News, Herzog stated, “I firmly deny any link to this incident or that operation,” highlighting Israel’s innate power to defend itself. He mentioned the tragic attack by Hezbollah missiles that resulted in the deaths of 12 Druze Israeli children playing soccer at the opening of the Olympics at the end of July.
“We do not want to reach that point of a dreadful tragedy in this war, but we have the inherent right to protect ourselves. Houses have been destroyed, Israelis killed, and Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Jews living peacefully in the north of Israel have been forced out of their homes for a year while Hezbollah continues to launch missiles at our people,” Herzog expressed.
On September 17 and 18, a significant number of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon, believed to be used by Hezbollah members supported by Iran. Lebanon reported that the explosions resulted in at least 37 deaths and approximately 3,000 injuries.
The attacks were widely condemned as being carried out by Israel, although Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel. Regarding whether Israel denies responsibility for these explosions or if they were caused by others, Herzog stated: “I am not implying anything, just saying there are many enemies of Hezbollah out there, quite a few recently.”
Herzog continued, “Hezbollah has been destroying Lebanon, creating chaos repeatedly. We are here solely to protect ourselves – that’s what we’re doing. We are making it clear that we need to take action, just like any normal country would, like the UK or any other sovereign state would do to protect its people.”
Following the explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated significantly. On Sunday (September 22), both sides engaged in intense exchanges of fire. Israel launched airstrikes on Lebanon, while Hezbollah in Lebanon fired more than 100 rockets into northern Israel.
The Israeli Defense Minister stated that the operation would continue until the displaced Israeli residents could return home safely. Hezbollah reiterated its commitment to fight until the conflict in Gaza ends.
When asked whether these actions could lead to a full-scale regional war, Herzog emphasized Israel’s responsibility to ensure the security of its northern borders and allow citizens to return home.
“This is clearly a very dangerous situation and could escalate rapidly. But we must understand that Hezbollah is the aggressor in this war. It began after Hamas’s initial attack on October 7. Since then, Hezbollah has been bombarding us continuously. Almost a hundred thousand Israelis have been forced out of their homes, and the entire northern region is closed off. We have been exercising restraint, but all of this must come to an end. We need to let our citizens back home. This is the most basic responsibility of any country towards its citizens,” Herzog emphasized.
Despite the significant increase in attacks, Herzog stated that Israel still does not desire a full-scale war with Lebanon.
“I want to be very clear that we do not seek a war with Lebanon. However, Lebanon has been hijacked by a terrorist organization, which is also a political party in Lebanon called Hezbollah. It has been armed to the teeth by the evil empire of Iran. Their leaders were eliminated in Israeli attacks on Friday as they gathered to launch an equally dreadful attack as Hamas did on October 7,” Herzog explained.
(Reference: Sky News)