The Associated Press published a sympathetic feature Wednesday profiling Hezbollah fighters and affiliates injured in a covert Israeli operation that detonated rigged pagers inside Lebanon.
The article, published nearly a year after the Sept. 17, 2024, attack, centers on six Hezbollah personnel or relatives injured when thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously in homes, hospitals, and frontline positions across the country. Israel has claimed responsibility for the operation, which it reportedly carried out by infiltrating the group’s supply chain and selling doctored devices through shell companies.
Hezbollah confirmed that the majority of the casualties were its members, with others being family or support staff. The attack killed 12 people, including two children, and injured more than 3,000, according to Hezbollah and Lebanese officials.
TOPSHOT – A person holds a sign with the Arabic slogan “we will not relinquish arms” as Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah supporters take part in a ceremony during the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Imam Hussein. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)
AP interviewed survivors who described the moment the pagers detonated. Mahdi Sheri, a 23-year-old Hezbollah fighter, said he heard his pager beep, picked it up, and followed the on-screen prompt, “Press OK.”
The device exploded in his hands, blinding him in one eye and leaving his bed soaked in blood. Sheri received treatment in Syria and Iraq, where doctors removed shrapnel and installed a prosthetic eye. He later married his fiancée over a video call from the hospital, saying, “Nothing stood in our way.”
Zeinab Mestrah said the hospital resembled a “slaughterhouse” as families screamed out names to identify loved ones.
“People didn’t recognize each other. Families were shouting out their relatives’ names to identify them,” Mestrah told AP.
The operation targeted Hezbollah’s encrypted pager network, long used as a fallback to avoid detection through mobile phones. Israeli officials have defended the action as a precise military strike against a hostile militia actively engaged in launching rockets into Israeli territory throughout 2024. Israeli security sources told AP that the devices were engineered to detonate only when handled by designated users. Mossad declined to comment on the specifics of the operation.
The AP said that a representative from Hezbollah’s Association of Wounded provided contact information for interview subjects. All six individuals who spoke to the outlet were either Hezbollah members or closely connected to the group. No minders were present during the interviews, the report said, though Hezbollah facilitated access. A “minder” refers to an individual affiliated with the organization who oversees or supervises journalists, interviewees, or media interactions.
The story does not mention any of Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel that preceded the operation. Nor does it reference the group’s role in fomenting violence across the region or its Iranian backing. Instead, it focuses on the emotional and physical toll on the injured and their families, with subjects expressing continued support for the group. (RELATED: Retired General Jack Keane Shares Reason Hezbollah Has ‘Not Fired A Shot To Defend Iran’)
“It not only affects us but also those around us,” said Sheri.
In July, Hezbollah started scaling back its arsenal — including surrendering weapons south of the Litani River — amid financial constraints, diminished Iranian support, and persistent Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s government has tasked its army with drafting a plan to monopolize weapons by year‑end, targeting Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.
Leader Naim Qassem said that any renewed Israeli assault would trigger missile retaliation and collapse Israel’s security within an hour.
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