U.S. denies involvement in Israel-attributed Hezbollah comms attacks

'We still believe that there is a diplomatic path forward, particularly up near Lebanon,' said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby

Published Sep 19, 2024  •  3 minute read

White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Sept. 18, 2024. Photo by Chip Somodevilla /Getty

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a press briefing on Wednesday that Washington was not involved in this week’s communication device explosions in Lebanon.

“We were not involved in (Tuesday’s) incidents or (Wednesday’s) in any way. And I don’t have anything more to share,” he told reporters.

“We want to see the war end. And everything we’ve been doing since the beginning has been designed to prevent the conflict from escalating,” Kirby said. “We still believe that there is a diplomatic path forward, particularly up near Lebanon.”

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According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, at least 25 Hezbollah operatives were killed on Wednesday in the latest series of device explosions. In addition, some 450 terrorists were said to have sustained wounds.

On Tuesday, more than 2,700 Hezbollah operatives were wounded and at least 12 were killed across Lebanon when their pagers exploded, with the terrorist organization saying it held Israel “fully responsible” and vowing revenge.

Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for either of the attacks.

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Biden administration envoy Amos Hochstein met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday in Israel to push for a diplomatic resolution. His visit came before Israel’s Security Cabinet added the safe return to their homes of 60,000-plus displaced residents of the country’s north to Israel’s official war goals.

Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is scheduled to meet on Thursday with the relatives of Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. He is to update them on the status of the negotiations, with a revised bridging proposal expected at some point from American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

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Japanese firm says it discontinued making radios used in attack

Japanese walkie-talkie maker Icom said Thursday that it has been a decade since the company produced the hand-held radio devices that exploded on Wednesday in the second wave of attacks on Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

“The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” according to the Osaka-based firm.

The statement came after reports that radios manufactured by Icom were among the communication devices that exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday.

Israelis receive threatening phone messages

Many Israelis received several intimidating phone messages from an anonymous source overnight Wednesday, hours after the second wave of attacks on Hezbollah communication devices.

The messages impersonated the IDF’s Home Front Command and the Israeli Cyber Command, and told recipients to “immediately enter a protected area,” in misspelled Hebrew.

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Another message claiming to be signed by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who is slated to give a speech on Thursday evening, said to “say goodbye to your loved ones; but don’t worry. You will hug them in hell in a few hours.”

Other messages included malicious links pretending to direct users to official Israeli military sites.

“In the last hour, a false message has been circulated calling on citizens to enter protected areas. The message did not originate from the Home Front Command or any other official entity. To avoid doubt — no instruction has been issued in the last hour to enter protected areas,” the National Cyber Directorate said in a statement.

The Directorate further said that to verify the credibility of a message, check if it is also published on one of the official Home Front Command channels — Telegram, WhatsApp or other social media networks.

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