Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revived the September 2024 pager attack on Hezbollah during his UN General Assembly address, holding up a pager and telling the world body that the Iran-backed militant group “certainly remembers them”.
As he spoke about Israel’s military campaign on multiple fronts, Netanyahu held up the pager and said, "Remember the beepers? Remember these things? Remember them? Well, I can tell you this: Hezbollah certainly remembers them."
On September 17 and 18, 2024, thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two separate waves across Lebanon and Syria, in an attack attributed to Israel and dubbed Operation Grim Beeper.
The attacks reportedly put around 1,500 Hezbollah fighters out of action due to injuries. According to Lebanese government records, 42 people, including 12 civilians, were killed and around 4,000 civilians were injured
In his address, Netanyahu went on to say, “Hezbollah’s leaders, dead. Their spirit, broken. The arch terrorists, the worst mass murderers on earth, not only killing Israelis, but killing Americans, killing Brits, killing citizens of hundreds, dozens of countries... They’re all gone too.”
“For the past three years, our heroic soldiers have fought day in and day out in a seven-front war. Do you know any other country the size of New Jersey, capable of fighting a seven-front war?” he said.
“Seven fronts – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria; they all ganged up on us to wipe us off the face of the earth. They failed. Because instead of collapsing, we delivered crippling blows to all of them,” Netanyahu added.
He said that, with Israel’s “great American friends”, the country had “crushed Iran’s army, navy, air force and nuclear facilities.”
During the address, the Israeli leader also held up a Starlink satellite internet receiver, saying he would leave it for the Iranian delegation.
“So when they inevitably defect, they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media,” he said, adding that it was only a matter of time before the Iranian authorities would be toppled by the people.
Netanyahu used his UN address to mount a forceful defence of Israel’s actions in the region amid growing international criticism.
Dozens of delegates walked out as he began speaking
Netanyahu called the departing delegates “moral cowards”, while supporters in the gallery chanted in Hebrew, “The people of Israel live.”
He also criticised New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling him a war criminal and accused Western European leaders of succumbing to what he called “antisemitic mobs”.
“You tried to stop me from coming here. You tried. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth,” Netanyahu said of Mamdani.
“Here’s a simple truth: Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide. To all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you!” he said.
Source: Reuters