The extraordinary attack, which simultaneously detonated hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, came at a terrible time for U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East, and could provoke the kind of escalation of tensions the United States is desperately trying to avoid.
The coordinated obstruction came a day after Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to Joe Biden, visited Israel to urge Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials against escalating tensions in Lebanon. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also warned that time was running out to find a negotiated solution between Israel and Hezbollah.
What remains to be seen is whether the pager attack is a precursor to a broader Israeli military operation that could exploit hundreds or even thousands of seriously injured or wounded Hezbollah operatives.
The attack appears to have disrupted the group’s communications. The pagers were acquired as a low-risk alternative to mobile phones, allowing the group to communicate remotely without being exposed to drone attacks as part of Israel’s ongoing campaign to assassinate Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
Israeli media reports said the operation was the result of a supply chain hack that allowed Mossad operatives to plant explosives in pagers to sell them to Hezbollah.
Video footage taken in southern Lebanon on Tuesday showed young men with injured eyes and extensive physical injuries in crowded hospital corridors. Now that they have shown their strength, the Israeli military may decide to take advantage of Hezbollah’s confusion before it can regroup.
The Israeli government announced last night that it was expanding its war aims to include the return of tens of thousands of civilians to the Lebanese border, which could give Prime Minister Netanyahu a cause for war if he decides to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon, as some Israeli and US officials fear.
And U.S. officials have said a ceasefire in Gaza would lay the foundation for peace along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, but that agreement appears far from being in reach.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Middle East on Tuesday to discuss the agreement with Egypt, the Hamas mediator, but will bypass Israel because the latest draft agreement is not yet ready, a spokesman said.
The United States also faces the loss of a key intermediary in Mr. Gallant, a critic of Netanyahu. His likely successor as defense minister is Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the right-wing New Hope party, which is seen as more radical.
The White House had hoped that a period of quiet around Israel would allow ceasefire negotiators to strike a breakthrough as mediators shuttled between Hamas and Israel, juggling the two sides’ complex demands on hostage swaps and territorial claims.
That period of calm was shattered by a breathtaking maneuver that has left Hezbollah vowing retaliation.
With both Hamas and Hezbollah under extraordinary pressure, the United States has warned Iran, which backs both groups, against escalating. “We urge Iran not to use any incident to further destabilize and further escalate tensions in the region,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.