Israel used booby-trapped communication devices in a 2024 attack that killed dozens and maimed thousands in Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has displayed a pager at the UN General Assembly, invoking a deadly 2024 covert sabotage operation targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon that killed dozens and severely wounded thousands, including women and children.
Thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on September 17, 2024, followed by hundreds of weaponized walkie-talkies the next day. The attacks killed dozens and injured up to 4,000 people, including numerous civilian bystanders, healthcare workers and their families. Israel later acknowledged responsibility for the operation.
Speaking at the General Assembly on Thursday, Netanyahu held up a pager, saying: “You remember the beepers? Remember these?” He added: “Hezbollah certainly remembers them.”
Netanyahu: "Remember the beepers (pagers)? Hezbollah certainly remembers" pic.twitter.com/W11O0YdjeR
— Israel National News - Arutz Sheva (@ArutzSheva_En) September 24, 2026
Scores of delegates walked out as Netanyahu took the podium, leaving much of the hall empty. The Palestinian mission had urged other delegations to join the protest.
Delegations from more than 70 countries walked out of the United Nations General Assembly hall.
— Iran in India (@Iran_in_India) September 24, 2026
No one wants to listen to the words of a war criminal and a killer of the children of #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/UWSwxeOmen
Netanyahu struck a confrontational tone throughout the speech, branding delegates who walked out “moral cowards” and lashing out at several of Israel’s regional and international critics. He called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “tyrant,” accused Qatar of trying to “brainwash” young Americans, and predicted that Iran’s government would eventually fall.
The Iranian representative didn’t want the starlink :( pic.twitter.com/wpElxvrrr4
— Danny Danon
