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Sources familiar with Hezbollah’s operations confirmed that the Lebanese group was preparing for the risk of an Israeli military escalation when it received an unexpected blow that plunged it into an unprecedented state of confusion that lasted for hours.
The sources pointed out that a buzzing sound emitted from the devices alerted their users before they exploded, causing some of them to lose their sight or have their hands amputated.
The detonation of thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah fighters, medics and others caused confusion and panic among the group, known for its military discipline and order. Some threw their devices away as explosions reverberated in areas under the group’s control in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, while others buried them.
A Hezbollah official said the group had quickly raised its military readiness level as soon as the attack began in anticipation of a larger assault by Israel, which has increased its warnings of an escalation of the year-long cross-border conflict.
Hezbollah leaders, who did not have such devices, turned to the group’s internal phone network to find out what was happening. Families of Hezbollah members struggled to locate their loved ones as the wounded were taken to dozens of hospitals.
Hezbollah officials described the attack as the most serious security breach in the history of the group, which was formed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in 1982 to fight Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon that year.
A source familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking said last week that the group had expected an increase in Israeli attacks in Lebanon based on what he described as “Israeli preparations for the worst.”
Another source familiar with Hezbollah operations said the group was in a state of confusion in the first moments of Tuesday’s explosions before absorbing the “huge unexpected shock.”
The source added that the attack did not paralyze Hezbollah. The group vowed revenge.
Bodyguards
A Hezbollah official said hundreds of the group’s fighters were wounded, most of them in Beirut rather than in front-line villages in southern Lebanon.
The official said that many of the injured were paramedics or administrators in Hezbollah institutions or their relatives who happened to be nearby.
“This is a sword that has pierced the guts of the group,” said Muhannad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center.
The attack appeared to have brought a temporary halt to Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks on Israel, before they resumed Wednesday afternoon with the group announcing it had fired rockets in response to the attack on villages in southern Lebanon and in support of Gaza.
Bodyguards of some of Hezbollah’s top leaders were wounded, although there were no reports of casualties among the leadership. Sources said Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was unharmed.
A senior Lebanese security source and another source said Israel planted explosives in 5,000 walkie-talkies imported by Hezbollah. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the blasts. The explosions killed 12 people.
The Lebanese Minister of Health stated that the number of infected people reached about 2,800.
A senior Lebanese official said Hezbollah was in a difficult position but was able to absorb the impact of what happened and that the strike had not paralyzed it. The official, who is part of the group, declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
