Robert F. Worth
It felt like a science-fiction film, one Lebanese friend told me. At almost exactly the same moment—3:30 p.m. today—pagers exploded all over Lebanon, leaving hideous gashes and wounds on the heads, hands, and hips of their owners.
The significance of the attack quickly became clear: The pagers were being used by members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant movement that has been fighting an undeclared war with Israel since October.
Israel has been using digital technologies to target members of Hezbollah for months, but today’s attack was unlike anything seen before and appears to have struck a new kind of blow. It maimed thousands of fighters and possibly crippled the group’s ability to respond if a broader conflict breaks out soon. It also exposed the identity of the victims, shattering Hezbollah’s careful efforts to maintain the anonymity of its members.
Even in a country that has long been accustomed to war, the intimate nature of this attack was deeply disturbing. Video clips from around Lebanon showed scenes of quiet daily life turning instantly into horror. At a fruit and vegetable market, a man in a blue baseball cap and a short-sleeve shirt is seen selecting green plums when an explosion knocks him to the floor, and he starts screaming in pain. In another clip, a woman is counting money at a cash register when the man in front of her is thrown violently to the ground.
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