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Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he approved Lebanon pager attacks

The pager attacks in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah killed nearly 40 people and injured over 2,500

(File) Ambulances arrive after a reported device explosion occurred during the funeral of people killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024 | AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday confirmed that he approved the pager attack in Lebanon targeting the Hezbollah group. 

The pager attacks killed nearly 40 people and injured over 2,500 in Lebanon. 

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"Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon," the Israeli PM's spokesperson Omer Dostri. 

Netanyahu's admission comes days after Beirut lodged a complaint against Tel Aviv at the United Nations over the pager attacks.

The remotely triggered explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah members in September were widely blamed on Israel, which till now did not confirm or deny involvement. 

Lebanese labour minister Moustafa Bayram and other officials travelled to Geneva and formally filed a complaint against Israel at the International Labour Organisation. 

“This method of warfare and conflicts may open the way for many who are evading international humanitarian law to adopt this method of warfare,” the minister said.

“It’s a very dangerous precedent, if not condemned,” he said.

Meanwhile, with Republican leader Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, Netanyahu is hopeful of improving and further strengthening ties between both nations. 

Netanyahu called Trump the "best friend Israel has ever had in the White House". In a statement Israel's PM said that he and Trump "see eye to eye" on the "Iranian threat" and the "danger posed by it".

Netanyahu said that the duo have spoken three times "in the last few days" - calling them "important conversations that were designed to build on the relationship between the two countries.