Axios reported that, “minutes before the pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon exploded, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant called his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin.”
According to the American website, “Galant” informed “Austin” that Israel is about to carry out an operation in Lebanon soon.
“The Israelis did not provide the United States with details of the operation,” a US official told Axios, noting that “the call was an attempt to avoid keeping the United States completely in the dark.”
US officials also revealed to Axios that “Israel has decided to blow up pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria, as an opening strike in a broad war.”
According to American officials, “Israel decided to blow up the pagers carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria, fearing that the party had discovered its secret operation.”
“It was a use-it-or-lose-it moment,” one US official said, describing the reasons Israel gave the United States for the timing of the attack.
A former Israeli official familiar with the operation said, “Israeli intelligence planned to use the booby-trapped pagers they had managed to plant in Hezbollah’s ranks as a surprise opening salvo in a comprehensive war to try to cripple Hezbollah.”
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his senior ministers, the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and intelligence agencies decided to ‘detonate the devices now rather than risk Hezbollah discovering the operation,’” a US official said.
“We were not aware of or involved in this operation,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Last updated: September 18, 2024 – 10:14
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2024-09-19 18:55:31