Deadly pager attacks in Lebanon reflect escalation in Israeli strategy: Turkish foreign minister

By Dilara Hamit

This week’s deadly pager explosions in Lebanon are part of Israel's broader regional strategy and represent a systematic escalation of the conflict, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned on Thursday.

Speaking at Anadolu's Editors Desk, Fidan described the explosions – which killed dozens and injured over 3,000 people – as part of a conflict that has been ongoing for about a year.

Israel’s strategy initially focused on the embattled Gaza Strip, where it has killed over 41,000 people since last October, said Fidan, and now appears to be shifting towards Lebanon.

He characterized this week’s attacks as opportunity operations, a term used in intelligence literature to describe such targeted attacks.

Fidan, formerly the head of Türkiye's intelligence agency, said Israel’s ability to access technical and human intelligence on Hezbollah has contributed to the current situation in Lebanon, including the pager attacks and the current conflict brewing along Israel’s border with its northern neighbor.

While Fidan acknowledged that such attacks are not a new concept, he stressed that their large scale and the impact on thousands of people made them significant.

He also mentioned that he had conveyed his best wishes to the Lebanese prime minister and offered Türkiye’s readiness to provide medical support to the masses of people maimed or injured in the attacks, many critically.

Fidan also voiced concern over the escalating nature of Israeli operations, suggesting that they are increasingly provocative, leaving groups like Hezbollah and actors like Iran with little choice but to respond.

He also stressed Türkiye's efforts to boost its cybersecurity awareness and the potential establishment of a new cybersecurity agency, steps that may be especially prudent in the wake of this week’s attacks through wireless devices, which were launched remotely, without a single shot fired.

On the issue of Palestine, Fidan decried the ongoing massacre and “genocide” in Gaza and stressed the need to never allow anything like it to happen again, through efforts for a two-state solution.

Citing previous UN resolutions recognizing Palestine, Fidan highlighted the international community's growing awareness and support for Palestinian statehood, despite ongoing challenges posed by Israel’s continued occupation and attempts to establish facts on the group that undermine prospects for a two-state solution.