Biden Administration Keeps Mum About Hezbollah Pager Explosions

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters his department is still ‘gathering information’ and assessing the potential fallout from the attack.

By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner

The Biden administration has kept distance from the explosion of pagers carried by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, which left thousands wounded and killed at least 12 people on Tuesday, stating that US officials were not given advance notice of what is widely believed to be an Israeli operation.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Wednesday that his department is still “gathering information” and assessing the potential fallout from the attack.

“We’re still gathering information; we’re still gathering the facts. I can’t tell you in this moment what impact this will have,” Blinken said. “I certainly can’t speak to what impact it might have on Hezbollah and its operations. That would demand other expertise. And again, it’s also necessary to fully understand what’s happened, and we’re still in the process of doing that.”

Thousands of Hezbollah members were seriously wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded on Tuesday. At least 12 people were killed, and more than 2,800 were wounded in the initial round of blasts.

Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among those injured by the pager explosions and reportedly lost an eye.

Then on Wednesday, hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated across the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s main stronghold in Beirut and in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese health ministry said at least nine people were killed and 300 were wounded in the latest series of device explosions.

Experts and several media outlets have said that Israeli intelligence was behind the explosions with a sophisticated, long planned operation, although Israel has neither publicly confirmed nor denied responsibility.

Blinken’s comments echoed those of US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who said on Tuesday that the department is “collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened.”

“I can tell you that the US was not involved in it; the US was not aware of this incident in advance,” Miller said to reporters.

Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel almost daily following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on the Jewish state’s southern region. Since then, both sides have been exchanging fire constantly while avoiding a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south.

About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah.

Israeli leaders have said they seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon but are prepared to use large-scale military force if needed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes.

On Monday night, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.

“It is our judgment that a diplomatic solution is the best way to get them back to their homes,” Miller added in reference to the displaced Israelis. “Because if you look at what a military conflict would entail, it’s hard to see how that gets those families on either side of their border back to their homes quickly.”

Miller said that Israel has a right to “defend itself against terrorists” and cautioned Jerusalem to minimize civilian casualties as much as possible.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also clarified that US agencies did not participate in the attack and urged Israel to use diplomacy when dealing with Hezbollah in lieu of military action.

“If you’re asking me if the US was involved, no, the US was not involved,” Jean-Pierre said. “If you’re asking me if we were aware of the operation, we were not aware of this incident that hundreds of pagers, as you just mentioned, were going to explode in Lebanon ahead of time.”

“We’ve been very clear about the tensions in the Middle East and wanting to make sure that we do everything that we can to lessen the tension there,” she added.

The pager operation in Lebanon was met with a mixed response from US legislators.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed the attack as a violation of “international humanitarian law” and called on Congress to launch an investigation into whether Israeli intelligence used American technology in the operation.

“Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon detonated thousands of handheld devices across of a slew of public spaces, seriously injuring and killing innocent civilians.This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X/Twitter. “Congress needs a full accounting of the attack, including an answer from the State Department as to whether any US assistance went into the development or deployment of this technology.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a vocal critic of Israel, called the pager attack “disgusting” on social media.

Others were less critical, noting the target was a US-designated terrorist organization.

“I guess it speaks volumes to why people shouldn’t be using pagers anymore,” joked Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).