Israel accused of deadly pager attack in Lebanon amid rising tensions with Hezbollah

People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several people who were wounded by exploding handheld pagers, in Beirut/ AP

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have accused Israel of carrying out the horrific pager attack on Tuesday, which killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000 others. The attack included the simultaneous explosion of pagers used by Hezbollah members. According to Lebanon's health minister, the victims included a prominent Hezbollah politician's son and an 8-year-old girl, reported the Associated Press.

According to the AP report, the incident comes as tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah continue to grow, with both sides exchanging fire since last October's Gaza war. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon was also hurt in the explosions.

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Israel did not claim credit for the attack, although it has a history of carrying out complex remote operations. These include cyberattacks, drone strikes, and targeted executions of extremist leaders around the Middle East. Over the years, Israel has been linked to multiple killings, including those of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, as well as Iranian nuclear expert Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the AP report further stated.

Other Israeli activities have included drone strikes in Syria, attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, and the assassination of Palestinian and Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, Tunisia, and Iran. Notably, the Stuxnet computer virus, which was considered to be a joint US-Israeli operation, damaged Iran's nuclear program in 2010.

Here are some operations attributed to Israel:

• The assassination of two major militant leaders in Beirut and Tehran. Hamas accused Israel of killing its supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, while Israel admitted to killing top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut.
• A massive strike aimed at Hamas commander Mohammed Deif in Gaza killed at least 90 people, though Hamas claimed he survived.
• Two Iranian generals were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria, leading to a major Iranian retaliation with missiles and drones.
• An Israeli drone strike in Beirut killed Saleh Arouri, a senior Hamas official.
• Seyed Razi Mousavi, an adviser to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria, was killed in a drone attack near Damascus.
• An explosion and cyberattack hit an Iranian nuclear facility, causing blackouts. Israel has been accused of carrying out several attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
• Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun while travelling near Tehran.
• An airstrike targeted and killed Bahaa Abu el-Atta, an Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, and his wife.
• Ahmad Jabari, head of Hamas' armed wing, was killed in an airstrike on his car, sparking an eight-day war with Hamas.
• The Stuxnet computer virus, which disrupted Iranian nuclear centrifuges, is believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation.
• Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike, and his successor Abdel Aziz Rantisi was killed in an airstrike shortly after.
• Salah Shehadeh, a senior Hamas leader, was killed by a bomb dropped on an apartment building in Gaza City.
• An attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan involved Israeli agents using poison. They were captured, and an antidote was sent to save Mashaal, who remains a key Hamas figure.
• Yahya Ayyash, known as the ‘engineer' for his bomb-making skills, was killed by a phone rigged to explode in Gaza, triggering a series of bombings in Israel.
• PLO military chief Khalil al-Wazir, known as Abu Jihad, was killed in Tunisia, and details of the raid were revealed in 2012.
• Israeli commandos, led by Ehud Barak, carried out a raid in Beirut that resulted in the shooting of several PLO leaders, part of a series of retaliatory actions following the Munich Olympics attack in 1972.