Allie Jaynes
ALLIE JAYNES: Hi, I'm Allie Jaynes, in for Jayme Poisson. So what you're hearing is the leader of the political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in Lebanon on Thursday. It was his first public speech following a series of historic attacks in the country earlier this week, reportedly by Israel.
AJ: Between Tuesday and Wednesday, hundreds or possibly thousands of pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded. At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured. While the attacks targeted Hezbollah, the victims also included civilians. At least two children were killed. Hezbollah's leader called the attacks an act of war and a major terrorist operation. As he spoke on Thursday, Israeli warplanes flew low in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
AJ: As of Thursday evening when I'm recording this, the Israeli government has not directly commented on the attacks. But on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel has entered a new phase of the war aimed at the North, widely interpreted to mean Lebanon.
AJ: A little later on, I'm going to speak to an Israeli intelligence expert about what we know about how this would have been carried out and why. But first, we want to get a picture from the ground in Lebanon. For that, I'm joined by Edmund Bower. He's a journalist based in Beirut who has reported for The Guardian, The Times of London, The Atlantic and others. Edmund, hi. Thank you so much for speaking to us.
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