Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that his country has defeated Hezbollah and that eliminating its leader Hassan Nasrallah was the crowning achievement.
“Now it is our job to continue to put pressure in order to bring about the fruits of that victory,” Katz said during a ceremony at Israel’s foreign ministry.
Katz said Israel is not interested in meddling in internal Lebanese politics as Israel has “learned our lessons,” but that he hoped an international coalition would capitalize on this opportunity politically and that Lebanon would join other countries in normalizing relations with Israel.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson said Monday that the Israeli leader did approve the pager attacks that dealt a deadly blow to Hezbollah in September.
The Israeli military, which has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, at first declined to respond to questions about the detonations.
On Sept. 17, thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds, in most cases after the devices beeped, indicating an incoming message.
Among the victims rushed to hospital, many had eye injuries, missing fingers or gaping holes in their abdomens, Reuters witnesses saw, indicating their proximity to the devices at the time of detonation.
In total, the pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponized walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility for the attack during a cabinet meeting, telling ministers that senior defense officials and political figures were opposed to the detonation of the pagers but that he went ahead with the operation.
Hezbollah fighters have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year. A pager is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays messages.
Israel followed up the pager detonations with the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike and launching incursions in south Lebanon.
